plot twist
by allechant
Summary: you think that you've met the man of your dreams at a random speed dating event. the plot twist? he kills people for a living. Rated M for crime and violence, Piko/Miku/Len.
1. Chapter 1

"So what do you do for a living?" she was starting to get a little tired, honestly. This speed dating thing made no sense. She was supposed to sit here and talk to someone for five minutes and, within that time frame, decide whether she wanted to keep in contact or just forget about them?

This guy sitting in front of her was the tenth guy she had spoken to so far. The hour-long session was fast coming to an end, and she was secretly grateful for that. She should never have let Luka drag her to this stupid event. She could have been home watching the latest episode of her favourite television drama, but _no_ , Luka was sick of her self-imposed 'Man Ban' and wanted her to get a boyfriend as soon as possible. Did Luka forget that every single relationship she ever had ended in disaster?

The last boyfriend she had fell through the flimsy floor of her balcony and sustained two broken ribs, a broken leg and a nasty concussion. He was in the hospital for weeks. The one before that ended up cheating on her with his cousin, which was a little weird. The one before that had only asked her out because he was a homeless bum who liked to seduce wealthier ladies in an attempt to get his next meal – he had promptly dumped her after realising that she wasn't particularly well-off, she just liked to dress up when she went out. And the one before that was secretly gay. The list went on.

"Me?" the man opposite her shrugged. She took a good, proper look at him and concluded that he was pretty good-looking, but she was starting to get jaded to physical appearance. After a long string of relationships which all ended in disasters, she had decided that the prettier the face, the uglier the heart. She believed that this guy wouldn't prove any different from what she had seen before. His blue eyes were _gorgeous_ though. She had always been a sucker for blue eyes. And his hair! It was so golden, the sun itself seemed to shine from those luscious locks. He was so pretty that it almost hurt her. He was probably prettier than she was, and she was a girl. Life was never fair, was it? "I don't do much, really. I kill people for a living," he pressed his fingertips together and smiled.

She laughed, an automatic reaction when people were talking, until she realised what he had said – then she promptly shut her mouth. "You kill people for a living?" she all but yelled – she only kept her voice down because she didn't want the other tables looking over at her. The blond man tilted his head quizzically, as though surprised by her outburst. She gulped. "You're kidding, aren't you?" she managed to say, squinting suspiciously at him. No way, he had to be joking. This guy looked squeaky clean and completely innocent. Someone as pretty as him couldn't possibly kill anyone.

"Got you there, didn't I?" he laughed. She relaxed, glad that he hadn't been telling the truth. "It's really hard to get someone's attention nowadays, especially at these stupid speed dating events. Most girls give me one glance and write me off completely," he looked disappointed, his blue eyes meeting hers. She didn't believe that, honestly. There was no way any girl could look at _this_ guy and not want to give him a chance. He had such a gorgeous face with amazing bone structure. "Anyway, I'm surprised you didn't ask me for my name before asking about my job. The name is Kagamine Len," he smiled at her. "What's yours?" she returned his smile, albeit nervously. This guy was _hot_ …

"Hatsune Miku," she answered. He cocked his head, as though thinking over her name. "What are you doing at a stupid event like this? I mean, someone like you…" she gestured awkwardly at him. "You could probably find a girlfriend without even trying. I'm only here myself because my friend forced me to come," she explained, her mind telling her to shut up even while she spoke. Why was she revealing so much about herself? He hadn't even asked her what she was doing here. She really had to start thinking things through before she opened her mouth and said something stupid.

Len snorted. "Well…in my line of work, it's not easy for me to take a day off and date someone, you know?" he fiddled around with the pen lying on their table. "I have a really weird job with super irregular hours, and most girls kind of don't like the fact that I'm uncontactable sometimes. It's my job, you know? I can't always keep my mobile on," he shrugged, twirling the pen between his long fingers. Miku frowned. Was he working as a paramedic or something? It did seem pretty strange.

"What _is_ your line of work?" she asked, just to be sure. He glanced up at her, something unreadable in his blue eyes, before he shot her a mysterious grin and shrugged again, placing the pen on the table. He reached into his jacket and drew out a card, silently passing it to her. She took hold of it and read what was on the card – it had nothing but his name and a phone number. His number?

"I already told you, I kill people for a living," he winked. "Anyway, looks like my five minutes are up. Time for the guys to switch tables again. Give me a call, would you? I'd keep my phone on for you," he pushed away from the table and walked off, leaving her gaping after him. Was he being serious about his career or not? She couldn't tell. On one hand, he said it was a joke, but on the other hand he seemed perfectly serious. It had to be a joke, right? Maybe his idea of a prank or something. She stared down at the card and thought hard about whether or not she ought to give this guy a call.

 _Ah, heck it. What's the worst that could happen anyway? You never have any luck with guys_. She made up her mind then and rang the bell on her side of the table just as the next guy slipped into his seat. "I think I've met someone," she announced when one of the facilitators came to her table, wanting to know what the issue was. The new guy seemed disappointed, but Miku didn't want to stay here for another ten more exhausting, pointless minutes. She signed the form the facilitator provided, collected her items and left the venue, a small, cosy little restaurant the dating company had booked for the night. She felt out of place here, anyway. Everyone here was dressed formally in black and white, while she had opted for a floral dress that clashed with what the other people were wearing. The only one who had not been in formalwear was…well, was Kagamine Len, that weirdo.

Luka had gone off after ensuring that Miku was stuck here. She had even asked the facilitators to inform her when Miku rang the bell to announce she found her match, so Miku had no doubt that Luka would be blowing up her phone soon with messages asking who the guy was and what he was like. But for the time being, she stared down at the card and let her fingers hover over her phone, wondering if she really ought to call him. When she left the table, he hadn't been in the restaurant either – he must have left right after he gave her his card. But she hadn't seen him leaving the place.

Decisively, she dialled the number and pressed her phone to her ear, her heart in her throat. There were a few rings and suddenly, she heard him pick up. His voice was jovial. "Hi, it's me. Miku, I mean," she paused. Len made a small sound of surprise. "When…when do you want to meet?" she asked, feeling a little awkward about asking him out. She was used to things being the other way round, but this guy was strange and unlike any other man she had ever dated. She was quite curious about him, really – and she wanted to know what his actual job was. She didn't fall for his idea of a good joke.

"Sure, sure! Whenever you want! I'm free tomorrow," he sounded a little breathless on the phone. They agreed to meet tomorrow for lunch at the same restaurant as just now. "Okay, I really have to go now. Sorry I can't talk for longer, but duty calls," he did sound apologetic. She said goodbye to him and he returned it quickly, hanging up right after that. The monotonous beeping of the cut call rang through her ears and she sighed, bringing her phone down to stare at the screen. Well, she had gotten a date for herself. She really didn't know how things would go now, but she hoped that her situation would improve. Given her luck though, she didn't think that this guy would be any better.

* * *

Kagamine Len was breathing heavily, his phone in one hand, a switchblade in the other. Some dark liquid was splattered over the walls of the alley, black streaks staining the dull red brick as the body slumped against the hard surface, marking a successful job tonight. He made a face at his blade, now smeared with the blood of his victim. "You'd think that after so much killing, you'd be used to seeing blood on your knife. But no, it's as gross as ever," he muttered to himself, wiping the blade clean on the dead man's shirt. "If I don't get paid for this," he continued, "so help me, I _will_ hunt down that slimy little bastard and throttle him to death. What am I to him, free labour?" he grumbled.

It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't have to track this guy down and then kill him in the quietest way possible. If he was able to use a gun and just blow his brains out…but no, in the city that was too noisy. So he had to use the good old-fashioned way. Blades were messy as hell, but they got the job done at least. Well, he had a day off tomorrow and he could spend it in whichever way he wanted to, so there was that. It was a nice consolation from his boss, though the man seemed adamant about not paying him for his efforts. It was starting to piss him off, really. And Len was usually very patient. If his boss didn't pay up soon, he was going to set Rin loose on him. _Then_ he'd regret it.

Though actually he was somewhat grateful that his boss had sent him on this particular adventure. He had to create a whole series of fake identities just to sneak into that stupid restaurant and take part in that dumb speed dating thing. No one was ever interested in him anyway, and no woman could tolerate his irregular working hours and how he tended to disappear entirely for days on end. But this man had been there, and he had to tail the guy until they got to somewhere quiet and he could carry out the assassination. Len was an absolute master at not drawing attention to himself.

 _But_ this time, dating didn't seem as stupid as it usually was. When he got to Hatsune Miku's table he instantly knew that she was the one for him. He wasn't sure how he could tell – it was just the bright green eyes, the long gorgeous teal hair which fell in waves all around her face, her delicate pretty features with her pouty lips. She was a real looker, but she looked like she was terribly bored. He found himself wishing to entertain her so, without thinking twice about it, he slid into the seat opposite hers and talked to her. He didn't regret a single word of their conversation, and had even felt like telling her the truth about his job. But of course she didn't believe him, no one ever did.

His phone buzzed in his hand, and he peered at the screen to see who was calling him. It was his twin sister, the genius hacker who was the leader of all the hackers in their organisation. Everyone was terrified of Kagamine Rin, even him. "Len, you _idiot_!" she hissed into his ear the very moment he picked up his phone. "You gave some chick your _business_ number? Do you seriously want Boss to be tapping into your every personal call? You should have given her your personal number! You idiot!"

"Hey, I barely use my personal mobile," he defended himself. "It's way easier for her to contact me through here. I'm sure you can do something about Boss and his eavesdropping ways. Come on, you're the tech whiz," he wheedled. "Help your little brother out!" he only ever played the younger brother card when he needed Rin's help. They were twins, but she was slightly older and she took great pride in being ten minutes older than him. Talking about how she was the older one often got her to agree to help him, and this time was no different. Rin let out an audible sigh, the line crackling as she exhaled. Len winced and held the phone away from his ear. Static had always annoyed him.

"Fine, I'll see what I can do," she said begrudgingly. Len smiled happily to himself. "Meanwhile, you'd best get yourself out of that alley. Boss wants to see you tonight, it's about your pay raise. I told him that if he doesn't pay you for your efforts tonight, I'll leak his amateurish sex tape to the entire organisation. Needless to say, he agreed," Rin sounded smug. Len just crowed in delight.

"You are the _best_ , Rin. The absolute best!" he said fervently. His sister basked in the glow of his compliments. "I'll get myself over as soon as possible. And thanks for convincing him to let me have a day off tomorrow too – I can finally go on a date. Pretend to be someone normal, you know," he said earnestly. Rin sighed again at that, her jovial mood suddenly changing to something sombre.

"You know you can never be normal, right?" his twin sister asked. Len stayed silent at that question – he was aware of that, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. To be really honest, he was tired of being an assassin. It was dirty, tiring work and he didn't get paid enough to be doing all this. If he wanted to make real good money, he'd join the Secret Service or something, but he was wanted by most government organisations around the world and showing his face before them was akin to a death sentence. So he worked for his boss, who had far too many enemies to feel comfortable.

"I'm coming over now," was all he said before he hung up and slipped his blade back into his jacket. He was looking forward to tomorrow. Maybe she would be someone who accepted him for who he was, and wouldn't comment on how he was always absent or busy or…whatever excuse he could come up with to explain away his work. But he was never that lucky. The last girlfriend he had who accepted his weird hours was the daughter of his boss's rival or something, and she found her way into his list of targets. He couldn't just ignore her – it was either his life or hers. So he chose himself.

He had to shoot and bury the only girl who had ever really understood him, but back then he hadn't really minded. He didn't love her at all – he only loved the idea of someone tolerating his habits. But he was very intrigued by Hatsune Miku. He hoped that she could accept him. That would be perfect.

* * *

"Really? He's really that handsome?" Luka said in disbelief. Miku nodded, carefully applying mascara to her upper lashes. She blinked, watching how her long lashes curled upwards and emphasised the shocking green of her eyes. Her eyes were her secret weapon against men – she knew that she had beautiful eyes and this was one feature she always played up when she went on a first date.

"You should have seen him, Luka," Miku started applying the slightest bit of blush to her face. Not too much, just enough to make her skin less pale than it normally was. "I can't believe that someone like him is still single! Do you think that means…there's something wrong with him?" she stopped and squinted at herself in the mirror. A young woman stared back at her, green eyes wide and lips slightly parted. Her cheeks were slightly pink because of the blusher. "I mean, that would be _just_ my luck, to meet someone so gorgeous and find out that he's like…I don't know, gay or something. It's happened before," she added pointedly when Luka opened her mouth to say something.

Her friend rolled her vivid blue eyes. Miku adored Luka's eyes – she really loved blue eyes, and she sometimes wished she too had blue eyes, but she had great fondness for her own green ones as well. "Your bad luck won't last forever. Come on, if I hadn't forced you to go to the speed dating event you wouldn't even have met your…your mysterious guy!" Luka pointed out, something like smugness in her voice. Miku nodded to acknowledge that and resumed patting blusher on her cheeks. "You should stop that, you're starting to look like a doll," Luka glanced towards the mirror and threw out some advice. "You should go on to your lips now. Or are you leaving them bare again?" Luka's eyes narrowed. Unlike Miku, Luka was a firm believer in the power of lipstick.

"Bare," Miku answered, blowing a kiss towards her mirror. Her lips were naturally pink anyway. She didn't see any need to mask their natural tone with other colours. A little bit of lip balm would do the trick. "Oh gosh, I'm so nervous," she suddenly whipped around and seized Luka's arm, her green eyes wild. "What if he stands me up? I'm not kidding when I say he's gorgeous, Luka. He might have changed his mind about dating me. I mean, I'm pretty average," she fretted. Luka just stared at Miku in disbelief – Miku was anything but average, and she normally was aware of that as well, but every time she met some new guy all her self-confidence seemed to disappear. It was very frustrating, but Luka was determined not to let her friend leave the house feeling anything but her very best.

"Look, it's not your fault all your previous boyfriends ditched you. It's their fault! They were all assholes!" Luka launched into a familiar tirade. It would calm Miku down somewhat, knowing that she wasn't to blame for all her unfortunate relationships. "You're a beautiful girl. Come on, you were crowned Prom Queen, don't tell me you forgot that!" though admittedly it was only because the girl _everyone_ thought would be the Queen got into an accident the day before prom and couldn't go, much to her dismay. But hey, Miku being the second choice surely had to count for something.

Miku did seem to calm down somewhat. "Yeah, that's true. It's certainly not my fault, it was theirs. They didn't appreciate me enough," she sounded indignant now, much to Luka's relief. When she pulled the 'Prom Queen' thing, it could either result in Miku regaining her confidence or it could end up with her sobbing on the floor about how she was always the second choice and that no one would ever love her. Luka had almost been expecting the second, so she was glad it didn't turn out that way. It would have taken even longer to drag Miku up from the floor and make her presentable.

"Where are you meeting this guy?" she asked. Miku, who had been looking at herself in the mirror and preening while she spoke, turned at the question and gave her a nervous, fidgety kind of smile. Luka instantly felt a little suspicious. It had better not be at this mysterious guy's house or something. "Miku…" she started, about to warn her of the dangers of date rape, but Miku cut in.

"It's just at the restaurant where I went for the speed dating event last night, okay? Jesus Christ," Miku swore as she turned back to her dresser and accidentally knocked over a bottle of concealer. "Anyway," she hastily stood the bottle upright, checking to make sure it hadn't cracked or anything, "I only chose to go there because I _know_ you have that membership card, Luka. So hand it over, I'm calling on the fact that you owe me for bailing you out of jail," Miku winked at her. Luka flushed.

"Look, it was an _accident_. I've said it a million times! And I wasn't even in jail for anything bad…not that bad, anyway," she defended herself. "So we were caught spray painting the walls of our college campus. So what? That bitch totally deserved it, talking trash about me as though I didn't know what she was saying behind my back!" Luka fumed. Miku just nodded at appropriate intervals, having heard all this before. Luka usually went into this tirade at least once a week, and had been doing so ever since she got caught and put in jail for a while – which made it…the past four months?

"Can I just have your card now?" Miku asked sweetly once Luka was done ranting, her chest heaving up and down in agitation. Luka shot her a cross look and went over to her bed, throwing things out from her purse until she finally found her card holder. Luka tossed the entire holder towards Miku and she caught it, rifling through the plastic sheets to find the membership card. "Thanks!" she chirped, giving the holder back to Luka. Luka kept it back inside her purse, dumping said purse on the floor and promptly collapsing on her bed. Luka's bed was the complete opposite of hers – Luka's bed was very tidy, whereas Miku's one had clothes strewn all over it. Her pillow was on the floor.

"Enjoy your date," Luka spoke up towards the ceiling. Miku just nodded in thanks and turned to leave the room, but before she could step outside and close the door, Luka said one more thing that made her pause. "You know, if he's too perfect to be real then he probably isn't real, so you really should just watch out for anything suspicious," her friend warned her. Miku knew there was truth to her words, so she thanked her friend and resolved to keep a careful eye on her mysterious date.

* * *

Len was pretty nervous. He was dressed up for once in a long sleeved collared top and black slacks. How long had it been since he last went on a proper date? A pretty damn long time, really. He almost couldn't remember what it was like to function in a normal society. He was always on the fringe, looking on but never participating – not until today. And it felt so _weird_ to be here.

He couldn't help but feel like every single person who glanced at him, waiting alone at the table, was a government spy tracking his every move. There was a massive bounty on his head, so it wasn't just the government he had to watch out for as well. Len had no idea how much he was worth, but what he knew was that whoever brought him in, dead or alive, could live pretty comfortably for the rest of their life. The last he heard, the bounty was up to fifty million dollars. Man, he'd love that kind of cash too, but he wasn't about to turn himself in just for all that money. That would be plain stupid.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," a breathless voice sounded over his shoulder. He quelled the instinct to turn around and punch the person. Instead, he sat on his left hand – he was left-handed – and forced a smile on his face. It helped to calm him down somewhat. Miku slid into the chair opposite his, running a pale hand through her tumbling teal locks. Man, she had _amazing_ hair. It made him want to run his fingers through it just to see what it would feel like. Plus teal was a nice change from all the red he was used to seeing. No wonder his sister approved of her…he squashed the thought. Thinking about this now would just put him in a foul mood.

"No worries, I've only been here for ten minutes," Len reassured his date. She smiled nervously at him and picked up the menu, looking through the food. Meanwhile, a waiter came over to her and asked her what she wanted to drink – she asked for a cup of coffee, no milk and no sugar. The waiter went off to give the order to the kitchen, and Len looked at her with surprise and newfound respect. "You take your coffee strong and black?" he asked. Miku looked up from the menu and shrugged, a small grin on her face. Len himself couldn't tolerate that kind of coffee. He was the kind who asked for as much sugar and cream in his coffee as humanly possible. Len practically _lived_ off sugar highs.

"Yeah, it was something I got used to during my university days," she answered, flipping the page. "When I had like a million projects due in the same week and sleep became…not so necessary," her smiled turned wry. "Sad to say, because of that period coffee no longer gives me the same caffeine buzz as before. But I still like the taste of it," she put the menu down, letting him see what she was looking at. She was on the pasta page. "Say, have you eaten here before? Any recommendations?"

"No, I haven't," Len shook his head, staring at the pasta. He liked pasta, but not as much as he liked fish. Or bananas. The latter had to be his only weakness. "To be honest I haven't been here for long, I travel around a lot because of my work. I mean, I've been living here for the past few years, but I went all over the world for a while and I only just came back. I never even knew this place existed before last night!" he laughed. Miku looked up at him with curiosity on her face, her finger hovering over the colourful pictures in the menu as she tried to decide on what to have for lunch. Len wondered if he had said too much.

"Where have you been, so far?" she asked, apparently deciding on some squid ink pasta. That was a fascinating choice – he was becoming more and more interested in her by the minute. "I mean, I've never really been out of here before. I went once to Japan…and that's about it. For my graduation trip, you know. My roommate loves sashimi so we decided we absolutely had to go there. Japan is where sashimi comes from, right? It's a beautiful place though!" she laughed. Len just continued to stare at her. She was really pretty, and she was so carefree and easy-going…at least for the moment.

"Japan is a nice place, I agree with that," he nodded. "I've been there a few times. I've only been to Russia, China, France, Austria…well, you name it, I've probably been there. Or at least somewhere near there," he added. There were still a few places he hadn't been to, of course. No one ever sent him to nice, peaceful places like Singapore or something. It was always the places where violence was rife in the streets and street gangs held sway over the night. It was super awkward going to other countries though, since his looks didn't exactly fit in anywhere. Most people could tell he was a foreigner immediately, and he had to try very hard not to be noticed by anyone. It would be terrible if he was stopped and searched by police or something. Then he'd have to explain why he had a whole arsenal of weapons on his person, and that would raise a few eyebrows. He'd prefer to avoid that situation.

"Wow! And all because of your job?" Miku's eyes lit up with interest. "So what exactly do you work as? You were kidding last night, right? Don't think I'm that gullible," her voice lilted playfully. He gave her an awkward smile – he was telling the truth, but she didn't believe him. Well, that was nothing unexpected, really. "Are you part of Doctors without Borders or something?" she asked.

"Uh…not _exactly_. I do the opposite thing of doctors, you see," he didn't know how to explain his situation. The waiter came back then with Miku's coffee, and she thanked the man, who shot him a strange look before he left the table. "I guess you could call me like, um…a funeral director or something like that. I deal with dead bodies," he added. Miku nodded, seemingly impressed.

"Oh, so that's the joke! You kill people for a living," she laughed, sounding almost relieved. "God, for a while I thought you were being serious," she rolled her eyes, again in that same playful manner. He was enamoured of her already. "But why do you have to travel everywhere if you're just a funeral director?" she frowned, that thought coming to mind. He didn't know how to explain this one away.

The same waiter came back to their table then, passing him a single slip of paper. Len stared at the man in surprise – the waiter just bowed to him and left the table, this time looking almost scared. Len looked at the slip, ignoring Miku for the time being – she was obviously wondering about the paper, but she didn't try to look at what was written there – and when he saw the message intended for him, he sighed and rolled his eyes. Of all days…why did this have to be on his day off? He turned to his left and caught the eye of the pair seated three tables away. They were hulking, menacing men with tattoos and piercings, and their presence was clearly disturbing the neighbouring patrons of the restaurant. The poor people seated around them were practically trembling in their seats. One of the men smiled at him – his gold tooth gleamed, reflecting the lights of the restaurant.

"Sweetheart, I have to step outside for a bit. Don't follow me, just sit here and enjoy your meal, all right?" he looked up at Miku, who seemed surprised – either by how he addressed her or how abruptly he had to leave. "Don't worry! I'll be _right_ back. Five minutes tops," he promised. She nodded uncertainly, and he rose from the table, setting off towards the exit. She noticed two other men – they had been making her feel a little uncomfortable since the very moment she came into the restaurant – stand and leave as well. She had a bad feeling about this. Was Len somehow connected to those menacing hulks? Or was this all just a strange coincidence? Len only left after he received that note from the waiter. What on earth was written on it? Unfortunately, she couldn't tell because when he left his chair, Len had taken the small folded piece of paper along with him.

Five minutes passed, then ten minutes, then fifteen. Soon, her order, which she had placed shortly after Len left, was already here and her mysterious date was still nowhere in sight. She frowned, staring at her steaming plate of pasta then at the empty seat opposite her. That was _it_ , she was tired of being stood up on dates and she was going to find his sorry ass and make him regret ever playing her! She wasn't sure how she'd find him, but…but she would try. Leaving her pasta untouched, she took her wallet and phone with her and left her purse in the restaurant – her purse was cheap and there was nothing in it except for some makeup, so she didn't mind if it got stolen. Besides, if she took everything and left the restaurant just like that, she'd probably be stopped on her way out.

She explained to the waiter that she was going out to look for her date. The waiter seemed surprised at that – she didn't know why – and told her that Len, along with the two men, had turned into one of the alleyways nearby that led into a vacant, disused carpark. No one ever went there because it was condemned and the place was practically sealed off – even reckless youths didn't bother trying to sneak in to fool around because they had to get through barbed wire, security tape and a few CCTV cameras. It didn't make any sense to expend so much effort just to have a good time.

Miku was mildly confused when she heard all that. If that was the case, then why did Len go there? But she followed the waiter's instructions anyway and managed to find her way to the abandoned carpark. It really was abandoned, with shrubbery growing everywhere, the roof of the parking complex gaping out into the sky. It was a concrete structure with four floors, the top being the empty roof. She could see that half of the roof had fallen through already, and there was ivy growing up the sides of the complex, giving it a very haunted, abandoned kind of feel. She shivered.

Len was inside there somewhere with two huge, burly men. She suddenly stopped thinking that he had just abandoned her halfway through the date. Luka's reminder that perfection was impossible rang through her mind. God, what if Len was dealing with drugs or something equally illegal? But he looked so…so clean! He looked so innocent! She couldn't believe that. She had to see for herself what the hell was going on here. Of course, it didn't cross her mind that it was probably unsafe and that she should just call the police, because Miku had always been prone to doing reckless things.

She found a gap in the barbed wire fence surrounding the complex, hidden by a particularly lush patch of shrubbery. Thankful that she was so slim, she slipped easily through the jagged hole and headed towards the complex. Keeping in mind the waiter's warnings about cameras, she took her time to cross the first floor, ensuring that the camera wasn't looking at her before darting across the space. She had some practice with avoiding cameras, since she often snuck back into her school campus after hours to mess around with people's interesting projects – yeah, she was a nasty brat back then – and she had to avoid the cameras then too. Of course, she only picked on projects from people she hated, and even then she always did something easily remedied, like spilling their bowls of beads or something equally silly. They never managed to find out who the culprit was.

She heard a loud bang come from the second storey, and frightened she made her way up to the next floor, wondering what was going on. She half-expected to see Len dead or something – that had sounded suspiciously like a gun shot. She looked cautiously through the door that led into the next floor, her eyes adjusting to the dimness of the parking complex. The first thing she saw was a head of bright blond hair, and she instantly knew that it was Len. Then she saw what he was doing.

Len was tucking a small gun into his pocket – she had no idea what firearm it was, she had zero experience with guns – and, as she focused on him, she noticed that the two burly men who had followed him out of the restaurant were lying on the ground. They didn't seem to be moving. Len was standing over them, so slight compared to their thick, huge frames, and from what she could see of his back he seemed to be perfectly unharmed. "Well, that was a pain," she heard him say from here – the carpark amplified his voice, making it echo around her. "If you wanted to claim the bounty on my head you should have done it when I was busy, not on my off day. That really pissed me off, you know? Normally, I wouldn't kill you, but _seriously_? I was actually enjoying my date!"

"Oh my god," she whispered, abruptly realising what Len had just done. He had killed two men, and he didn't seem to be showing any remorse whatsoever. Len whipped around – she had no idea how he had heard her voice, but he did – and stared at her, something like shock in his bright blue eyes. She met his gaze, unable to say anything besides "Oh my god" over and over again. She was out with a psychopath. He was a complete psychopath. That was the only way she could explain this. He was probably wanted by the police or something. Was he going to kill her next? She bet he would!

Suddenly, he was right in front of her, his blue eyes earnest. When had he come over? She didn't even see him walking here! "Miku, I know this is really shocking, but I'm not gonna hurt you," he promised, raising his hands to show her that they were empty. She stared at him, then past him at the two bodies lying in pools of their own blood, then back at him again. Len followed her gaze. "Hmm. I would have preferred if you didn't see that," he shrugged, shifting so that he hid the two corpses from her line of sight, "but I guess that was an unfortunate accident. Told you not to follow me, you know," he shook his head. "I didn't want you to know this side of me so soon, really!"

"You're a murderer! Oh my god," Miku shook her head, feeling slightly dizzy. She stared accusingly at him. "Are you going to kill me next? Is this your definition of fun? Do you pick up girls at random dating events and murder them or something? I gotta call the police," she turned, prepared to run away from here – of course, it still hadn't struck her how dire her situation was, now that Len was right in front of her and no one besides the waiter knew where she was. At that moment, all she could think about was getting away from this crazed psycho, staying safe and crawling back to cry in Luka's arms. She was definitely going back to her 'Man Ban' if she managed to survive this episode.

A firm hand latched around her elbow, and she stopped, her heart racing in her chest. She looked back – Len was staring right at her, deadly seriousness in his eyes. It was completely different from the good humour she had spotted just a while ago. "I never lied to you, you know," he told her. "I said from the very start that I kill people for a living. You didn't believe me then. But now, you should," he glanced back, presumably at the dead men. Then he looked back at her. "I don't intend to hurt you," the seriousness faded and he was back to being earnest. "I like you! It's really weird, but when I saw you I thought…I thought that maybe I could stop running away from people and actually, well, settle down with someone. When I looked into your eyes I saw someone who was running away from something too. I thought we really had some connection. Don't you think so?"

She did think so, but he was a murderer! How was she supposed to settle down with someone who went around shooting other people? "So you kill people for a living?" she asked, her voice trembling. He nodded, letting go of her. She flinched back, trying to understand and absorb everything she was hearing. This was evidently not a dream. She pinched herself and winced – nope, it wasn't a dream.

"I'll tell you more about myself if you want. But you need to promise that you'll listen, you won't run away, and you won't call the police on me," he met her gaze gravely. She hesitated – if she said yes, then she would be doing something very stupid. Everyone would say she was stupid if she agreed to do all this. She would be helping a murderer! But Kagamine Len looked so…he still looked so nice and handsome and innocent. She couldn't help but want to know more, and besides…he didn't seem to want to hurt her, that was true. So finally, she nodded, and he smiled in relief. "Let's get out of here first. I'll tell you more on the way back to the restaurant," he promised. And so they left.


	2. Chapter 2

"No way," Miku shook her head as she spun some pasta around her fork, blowing on it a little in order to cool it down. Len seemed almost offended by her reaction, staring glumly at her.

"Yes way," he countered. This had been going on for the past five minutes. On their way back from the parking complex, he had just cracked lame jokes until she had _sort of_ forgotten that he was a cold blooded murderer and when they reached the restaurant, he even took her – now cold – pasta and ordered a new plate for her. He was quite the gentleman. Well, for an assassin, of course.

"I don't believe you," she chewed on her pasta as she spoke, hiding her mouth behind her hand. It made her words come out muffled, but she was really very hungry. Len rolled his eyes, his cheek supported by his hand. He had demolished the cold plate of pasta within five minutes…or less.

"We've established that whenever you don't believe me it turns out I'm speaking the truth," Len defended himself. "So stop being all jealous and admit that you're impressed I've completed my national Pokédex. When you travel all over the place and get to trade with others, it's possible!"

"Shut up! I don't believe you!" Miku angrily stuffed more pasta into her mouth. "How did you manage to get Mew? And Darkrai? And Meloetta? Did you kill someone and steal their Pokémon?" she demanded. She wasn't sure if she meant it seriously or jokingly, given who she was talking to. Len just rolled his vivid blue eyes again, shifting to support his other cheek on his right hand.

"You're just jealous," he said in a sing-song kind of way. "I can show it to you if you want. I have every single Pokémon title to date, by the way," he added smugly. She gaped at him for a while, then turned her face downwards and continued shovelling black pasta into her mouth. She was done with him. There was no way she could date a guy who had caught more Pokémon than her. It wasn't fair. "Did I mention that I also have the Pokébank? So I can transfer Pokémon from previous games to –"

"Stop, stop," she interrupted him, swallowing her mouthful. Her plate was only half-empty, and she noticed Len staring longingly at her food. "I'll let you eat some if you give me a Mew," she offered, smiling slyly at him. He frowned, looking between her and the plate of food, then finally he sighed.

"You drive a _hard_ bargain, but okay. I'll trade one to you tonight. Add me as a friend!" he chirped, grinning at her. He was so cute when he was smiling! It almost made her forget that this guy right opposite her had just killed two men, both easily twice his size. Miku admitted that she was almost trying to avoid talking about it, but she had to bring it up soon for the sake of her mental health.

"Okay, so now that we've broken the ice and whatnot," she pushed the plate towards him, and Len's eyes gleamed eagerly as he picked up his fork and spoon, "then you need to tell me everything now. You said you would tell me more about…you know, your job, when we were out of that place. So what's the deal?" she lowered her voice, wary of people listening in to them. Len just happily dug into her pasta like she wasn't asking him about something very important. "Len!" she hissed at him.

"I heard you the first time," he complained, "let me just finish this off first. I'm starving. You do not know how much effort is needed to do the kind of things I do," he moved his fork around, taking up a huge amount of pasta. She watched in amazement as he stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. Could his jaw unhinge? He chewed away, eyes closed in bliss, and Miku wondered how on earth she had gotten herself into this situation. She was sitting with a murderer, and she wasn't even calling the police. This was not what she had envisioned when she stepped out of the house this afternoon.

She waited impatiently for him to finish his mouthful of food. Len then set his fork and spoon down and dabbed at his mouth with a paper napkin, looking satisfied. "That was great. Totally hit the spot," he sighed happily. "Anyway…okay, what do you want to know?" he surprised her by asking her that. How was she supposed to ask him anything? She didn't even know what she didn't know!

"Uh…well…when did you start…you know?" she waved her hand helplessly at him. Len wrinkled his nose, looking upwards at the ceiling. He seemed to be deep in thought. Was it really that long ago? He couldn't be older than her, right? Maybe by just a little, but definitely still early or mid-twenties.

"Okay, if you want to know when I started my training, I was like eight years old," he laughed, raking his fingers through his hair. "If you want to know about my first assignment and first successful mission, I was sixteen years old. So if we're taking the latter, I guess it's been eight years?" he frowned, counting on his fingers. "Unless you count my two year hiatus, then well, it's been six."

Somehow, Miku didn't feel like she had learnt anything more about Kagamine Len. Everything he said just opened up more questions. "You took a hiatus? Why?" she asked, curious. Like, there had to be a reason why an assassin would just…stop…assassinating people, right? He made a face.

"Someone got to me and cut me up pretty bad, I still have the scar," he pointed at his chest. She winced. "So I got taken out of commission for a few months, and after that I just continued taking a break. I wanted to do something else, you know? Like help people instead of…the other thing," he fidgeted. "There are always people after me. Like those two guys you saw, they wanted to bring me in so they could claim the bounty on my head. I asked them how much I'm worth now. The last time I checked was three years ago, and I was fifty million then. Now it's five hundred million dollars, more if I'm alive," he said wryly. Her eyes widened at that amount. Now _that_ was a lot of money.

"Who's paying all that money?" she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice down. The next table glanced over at them, a pair of elderly women, and Miku gave them a nervous grin – the two women stared at her for a moment and finally looked away again. She let out a sigh of relief. Len made another face at her question. He didn't seem like he was very fond of discussing this topic.

"Uh, all the governments around the world I guess. I don't know, really. All I know is that I'm so dangerous they don't even tell the public about me. That's pretty much why I can walk around like this without people trying to call the police," he shrugged, scooping up more spaghetti. How did he still have so much left? "I do try not to draw too much attention to myself because people might be looking for me through CCTV cameras, but honestly I'm rarely out in the open like this anyway," he stuck his fork into his mouth. She nodded, frowning as she thought over his words. His life sounded terribly complicated. It really made her wonder why he was doing all this in the first place.

"Why did you…uh, why are you doing this?" she gestured with her hands, still uncomfortable with talking outright about Len's job. Len pushed the empty plate aside – he had finally finished off her food – and patted his mouth with a paper napkin again, looking satisfied. He beamed at her.

"Now that's a secret," he chirruped. Her frown deepened and she opened her mouth to ask, but then Len shook his head, a smile dancing on his lips. "Hey, I answered most of your questions! Leave me something to keep to myself," he tugged on his short ponytail absentmindedly, raising his free hand to catch the waiter's attention. She kept her mouth shut, watching as their waiter came over – she recalled his look of amusement when they traipsed back into the restaurant, and he even congratulated her on finding her date. This waiter seemed to think that she was very amusing.

"Bill please," Len stated brightly. The waiter nodded, but right before he left the table he leant down to whisper something into Len's ear. Len listened as Miku looked on curiously, and suddenly he let out a gasp. "No way!" he exclaimed, staring at the waiter with his mouth hanging slightly open. The waiter just nodded, apparently trying to stifle a chuckle, and Len slowly started to shake his head. "You must be lying to me. You're telling me that you and Rin –" suddenly, he glanced at Miku, who was still listening to their conversation. He lowered his voice and whispered something to the waiter, who nodded and grinned at him before he turned around and left their table.

"So what was that all about? Who's Rin?" she asked, leaning her chin on her hands. Len looked as innocent and cheery as ever. She had half a mind to shake him – the more he told her about himself, the less she knew, and she was honestly questioning her state of mind right now. She really, _really_ shouldn't be together with some guy who had a massive bounty on his head and who could take on grown men twice his size. Yet here she was. She was going to end up getting herself killed, probably.

"Rin's my twin sister. She works for the same guy as I do," Len answered, to her surprise. She had sort of expected him not to tell her anything again. "And the waiter…well, he knows Rin actually. By the way, Rin looks a _lot_ like me. If you ever see her, I think you'll be really shocked," he laughed quietly to himself. "But come to think of it...if you want, I _can_ bring you to see my sister now," he mused, "she's free right now anyway and I'm sure she'd be interested to meet you. Plus Gumo said he's visiting her too, so we might as well all go together! Oh, he's Gumo by the way," Len tilted his head towards their waiter. "He said he's ending his shift soon so maybe we can hitch a ride from him. He has a car!"

Miku had a bad feeling about this. "Uh, is your sister…like you, by any chance?" she asked hesitantly. She was barely able to wrap her head around the fact that Len was a legitimate assassin. If his twin sister was one too, she wouldn't know what to do. This was just far too much action for one day.

"If you mean, does she go around shooting random people on the streets, then no. She's nothing like me," Len's response made her sigh in relief. "But let me tell you, she's a _hell_ lot scarier than I am. Rin can probably bring grown men to their knees, shaking and crying for their mama," he shook his head. "She's a wicked, vicious little thing. If we're really gonna visit her you have to be on your absolute best behaviour, otherwise she'll rip you to shreds! Your confidence, I mean," he clarified.

Yes, she definitely had a bad feeling about this. "I don't really know if I want to go and see her," Miku tried to make up an excuse for herself. "Uh, I'm kind of busy today and uh, I really have to go to work! Yes, I'm…going for a job interview soon and I can't mess it up, really sorry about that!" she smiled brightly and hoped that Len couldn't see through her lie. Len seemed very disappointed.

"Oh, that's a pity. Especially since Rin told me that you're already working part-time at a retail store, and that you actually cleared up your schedule for me today," Len pouted, then winked lazily at her. Her eyes widened and for a moment, her mind just went completely blank. Who on earth was this Rin person, and why did she know so much about her? "Rin's a genius hacker. If she wanted to she could find out everything you've done since you were born until this very day. Unless you never let it out onto the internet, but she still has her ways even then. I don't know how she does it," he shrugged, "so don't ask me either! She doesn't tell me her trade secrets, and I don't share mine."

She was at a complete loss for words. Finally, after the silence stretched on to an unbearable eternity – though in all honesty it lasted for less than ten seconds – she finally agreed to visit Len's sister, already knowing that she would probably regret this. Len beamed at her, obviously glad that she was coming, but before he had to say anything their waiter returned with the bill. Miku took out her wallet, prepared to pay for her share, but Len stopped her. "I'll pay," he took out a single credit card from the pocket of his pants. "I just got my salary yesterday so I'm feeling really rich right now."

"How much _are_ you paid?" she wanted to argue against letting him pay for everything – she was a self-sufficient, independent young woman and she did not need a man to support her. But she wisely decided against picking a fight with someone who could probably kill her where she stood. Miku was going to be very careful about speaking to Len. She definitely didn't want to get on his bad side. Len, who had risen from his chair to follow the waiter to the counter, glanced back at her with amusement dancing in his lively blue eyes. How could someone who dealt so much with murder and other illegal things possibly be so positive all the time? Len practically overflowed with cheerfulness.

"I'm severely underpaid," Len rolled his eyes. "My boss pays me _way_ below market rate, let's just leave it at that," she followed him doggedly all the way to the counter, refusing to back down on her question. She wanted to know how much Len was paid – how much did it cost to hire a paid killer? It had to be a lot. He was pretty much risking everything to bump someone off, right? Or was he really risking anything? She had no idea. He was probably really well-trained, but nevertheless…

"You're not going to let go of it, are you?" he sighed, waiting for the server to ring up their bill. "Fine, every job gets me around thirty thousand to fifty thousand dollars. Don't look so shocked!" he turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. Her mouth was hanging open. Len made more with one assignment than she did in an entire _year_. "I'm charging below market rate! Do you know how much it costs to hire someone like me? When I was freelancing I demanded a hundred grand at least, no less. But sometimes, you have no choice but to suck it up. I'm going through a rough patch."

"You don't seem to be going through any sort of rough patch to me," Miku muttered, giving him the evil eye. Len snorted, apparently entertained for some reason, but he didn't say anything more about the matter. Instead, he turned his attention to the server, signed for his card and took the receipt, tucking it into his pocket along with the card. She decided to talk about something besides Len's enviable salary – _enviable_ certainly, but she would never want to do his job! "Where does your sister live?" she hoped it wouldn't be too far from her house. She hated taking the bus home.

"Oh, not too far from here. It's just a ten minute walk away," he responded cheerily. "But Gumo is going to visit her, so we'll take his car. I don't even know why he's working here if he has his own car honestly," Len lowered his voice so that the server at the counter wouldn't hear them, "but to each his own! I chose to be a hired killer, he chose to be a waiter. I'm not judging him or anything," he straightened up and strolled away to the restaurant entrance, sitting cross-legged on one of the chairs they had placed out for waiting patrons. Miku followed him, though a little uncomfortable with the notion of just loitering around the restaurant. Surely that must make them suspicious.

To her relief, however, they didn't have to wait long. Their waiter popped his head through the front door, obviously looking for Len, and his light green eyes lit up in relief when his gaze fell upon them. "God, Len, I thought you snuck off or something. If you did, you know what Rin would do," he made a sharp cutting motion across his throat. Len chuckled – it was a throaty kind of laugh, and it made her toes curl. Good Lord, he was sexy. How could someone so bad be so good? She was a bad girl.

She really ought to get herself checked by a psychiatrist. Why was she just following Len around like he was a normal guy when he was probably the _least_ typical person she had ever dated – and that was saying something! She glanced at Len, who was laughing with Gumo about some stupid guy joke or something, and she still couldn't force herself to believe that he could kill anyone. But he also spoke so casually about murder, like it really wasn't anything more than a job to him. She couldn't figure out if she found him cute or just dangerous. Maybe a heady, intoxicating mixture of both.

"Come on Miku, we don't have all day," Len came over to her and grabbed her hand, catching her by surprise as he dragged her off her chair. She stumbled forward, thankfully catching her balance, and then she and Len left the restaurant in Gumo's wake. The waiter led them to the restaurant's carpark, which was a little distance outside the building itself. There was a whole row of empty lots which she guessed were meant for the employees. She was wondering which car belonged to their waiter when Gumo turned towards a sleek black Porsche. _Wait_. Was that really his car?

Gumo took something out of his pocket and suddenly the car's lights flashed. "Well, get in. Someone will need to sit at the back though," Gumo opened the front door, taking a look behind. "Luckily I cleared my old clothes from the back seat just yesterday…so who wants to sacrifice themselves to the backseat of my car?" he asked, green gaze flitting between her and Len. She did not want to sit alone at the back, but she didn't want to sit in front with Gumo either! So she just froze there.

"Why don't Miku and I sit together at the back? Look at her. She's terrified, poor thing," Len placed a warm hand on her shoulder, making her jump. Gumo snorted, apparently just as entertained by her as Len was, and nodded in agreement. She was secretly relieved that she didn't have to sit alone after all, though of course she wasn't going to say that to Len's face. The Porsche started up quietly and then they pulled out from the parking lot, headed to Len's sister's house…wherever that was.

"So remind me how you knew I was going to be at this restaurant again?" Len said after he was strapped into his seat. For a merciless assassin he seemed to be remarkably concerned about road safety, absolutely insisting that she buckle up her seatbelt before Gumo started to drive. Honestly, he was like a mum. Miku couldn't remember the last time she buckled up her seatbelt – a sad and dangerous confession to make, but really, who had time to check for silly things like that?

"Rin told me," Gumo deadpanned, adjusting his rear-view mirror so that he could look at himself. Now that Miku saw him out of his black and white waiter's outfit and didn't just label him as 'the waiter', she saw that he was actually pretty cute. Like, not as cute as Len or herself obviously, but still pretty cute. She wondered if he had a girlfriend. "Len, you need to stop spacing out all the time. That's the main reason why you got hurt so bad a few years ago, you know. Though actually, I kind of wonder if you did that on purpose so that you could take some time off for yourself," Gumo added, tone dry.

Miku blinked at this revelation. That sounded so stupid, allowing yourself to be mutilated just to take leave – but it was the kind of stupid that Len seemed entirely capable of. Len just shrugged. He had his arm draped around Miku's shoulders, and she felt surprisingly comfortable with that. There was definitely something wrong with her. These hands had held a gun an hour ago and these hands had killed two men! But it wasn't really getting through to her head. Maybe she was suicidal.

"I almost couldn't recognise you after you dyed your hair, Gumo. Seriously, you look weird with black hair. I thought you were kind of familiar but I was thinking, _no way in hell_ would Gumo have dyed his hair. But I guess I was wrong," Len evaded Gumo's question entirely. "When are you going back to your normal alien green haired self? Please don't start putting contacts in too. I am forced to admit that you're the Master of Disguise. Speaking of which, why the hell are you stalking me?"

"First of all, it's a _wig_ , Len," Gumo sounded so bored that she had to choke back a giggle. "And secondly, Rin was the one who asked me to stalk you. She told me to make sure your pretty little girlfriend doesn't ditch you halfway through your date or anything. She also told me to try and be a convincing waiter. You were fooled, weren't you?" Gumo turned down the street, leading them into the inner city, where the crime rates and gang movements were significantly higher than in the suburbs. She shivered. She had never really been to the inner city, but she had heard horror stories.

Len's grip around her tightened slightly when she shivered. "Who did you bump off to replace at the restaurant?" he asked. "And funny. You'd think that the staff would notice one of their regulars had gone missing, but you seemed to be perfectly in your element. You should consider this as a future career option, you know," she couldn't tell if Len was serious or sarcastic. It could be either with him.

"Har-dee-har-har. Look, I'm laughing," Gumo said flatly. "Money really does a lot in this place, Len. And I didn't _bump_ anyone off, I just knocked him out and stole his uniform and stuffed him in his locker for a while. He'll be rescued eventually. I think," Gumo paused, thinking over his actions. "As for the other staff, they honestly don't care. Surprisingly I look enough like the original guy that I could just sort of bluff my way through everything. And they didn't pay me much attention anyway. They're just there to work, aren't they?" she could sense his eye roll. "Anyway, we're reaching, so you'd better get prepared. I left some gloves in the back so you can grab them if you want."

 _Gloves_? Len turned around and searched for said gloves, and eventually he held out a pair of translucent gloves for her – the kind used in lab work, she remembered. Those disposable kinds. "Better put them on, Miku – and I don't recommend taking them off while in Rin's presence unless you want to set off a screaming fit," Len advised, putting his gloves on. For the thousandth time that day, Miku asked herself what she had gotten herself into, but she did as he suggested nevertheless.

"All righty, ladies first," Gumo got out of the car and opened the back door for her. She gulped nervously and clambered out in the most ungraceful way – yeah, there was no way she would ever become an actress. Actresses always had that scene where they elegantly got out from some sleek, expensive car. She was sure she looked more like a floundering whale than a graceful swan. It didn't help that the moment Gumo opened the door, he left and the door, which had only been half-opened, swung back towards her and nearly hit her in the face. She resisted the urge to glare at the – black haired? Green haired? – man and stood aside so that Len would be able to get out too.

She naturally felt stupid when Len just got out from the other door. Mutely, she shut the car door, hoping that no one had seen how she had waited for Len to get out as though the car only had that one exit. "Well, I'll let you do the honours," Len waved Gumo towards the front door. They were parked in front of a simple two-storied home. It looked neat and cosy. If Rin lived here, then surely she wasn't as bad as what Len implied. This looked like a perfectly decent, average household!

Gumo took a deep breath and stepped towards the house. The moment he reached the front door, stepping on the welcome mat, she heard a shrill ring and then suddenly the door seemed to cave in on itself. A corner of the door folded in, replaced by a metal plate, and she saw something similar happen to the doorknob. She blinked, wondering what the hell was going on. "Iris and fingerprint identification please," a robotic female voice announced, and she made a face, staring at the door in a new light now. Gumo rolled his eyes and muttered something inaudible, but he leant forward towards the higher plate – which she now saw was a retina scanner – and pressed his thumb against the place where the doorknob used to be. There was a pause, and then the same robotic voice said, "Nakajima Gumo. Welcome in, you damn asshole," accompanied by the sounds of Len snickering.

The door swung open, and then the three of them went into the house. Miku's eyes had to adjust to the relative dimness of the interior – the outside was bright and sunny, but here was cold and dark like a vampire's lair or something. Was Len's sister a vampire? Given everything she found out today, that honestly wouldn't be surprising anymore. She glanced back at the weird door, which was now shut behind them, and thought about what Rin's neighbours must think of her eccentricities. She lived in a fairly nice neighbourhood, after all – surprisingly nice given that they were in the inner city. The other houses only had a few metal bars over their windows and several locks in comparison to this…high-tech security system. "Asshole! There you are!" she heard a shrill female voice shriek.

She turned towards the source of the sound and saw Len. But it was a short, angry Len who wore a white bow on top of his head, his hands placed on his hips…oh wait. That was a girl. It had to be Len's twin sister! God, Len wasn't kidding when he said they looked alike. "You come back in from the outside world and _contaminate_ everything with your filthy bacteria – you'd better not have brought back another cat. God, I can't deal with a cat. Do you know how long I took to disinfect everything?" she stepped towards Gumo, practically yelling in his face. Poor Gumo looked scared.

"I don't have a cat now, I swear!" he yelped, holding his gloved hands up. Kagamine Rin glowered at him before turning her attention to her brother. She stared at Len for a while, and Len simply stared back at her. She didn't say anything, her gaze drifting over to Miku. Miku instantly began to panic.

Rin was walking towards her now. Miku wanted to run away from here. The air around the blonde practically crackled with electricity. There was fire blazing in her blue eyes. This was the kind of girl who could probably make her cry with a single criticism or something. "Hmm. You're pretty. I see what my brother sees in you," Rin tilted her head, studying her features. Miku was still cowed by her intense gaze. "In fact, you're prettier in real life! I thought your Facebook profile was already pretty hot. I drew it up for my brother, and he would not stop stalking through your photos last night –"

"Okay Rin, that's enough," Len interrupted, moving forward to stand between her and his sister. "Anyway, this is my twin sister, Kagamine Rin. Hacker extraordinaire and absolutely terrified of germs and outside contamination. Rin, this is Miku, who will hopefully be my girlfriend one day and then _maybe_ my wife, provided I don't scare her off first," Len introduced them cheerily. She didn't know whether to laugh or react awkwardly to such an introduction, so she turned towards Rin, who seemed less intimidating now that she was actually smiling. Yes, apparently Rin could smile too.

"Oh, it's great to meet you. Len has been single for a decade. Okay, not so long," she changed her words when her brother glared at her, "but still pretty damn long. I barely get out of the house and I had more dates than him the past three years," she rolled her eyes. "I hope you weren't scared off by Gumo either," she added, glancing at the person in question. Gumo just glared moodily back at her. "He's useless for most things, but he's fairly good at stalking people because he's a total _creep_. Don't ever let him use your laptop because you'll come back to find it filled with _hentai_ –"

"That was once. Once! And I swear it was an accident! I clicked something and the link popped up, all right?" Gumo defended himself, looking heavenwards. Miku eyed the man suspiciously – she found that she could no longer see him in the same light anymore. Who knew what kind of perverted, deviant sexual fantasies this man had? At least Len was upfront about his career!

Rin looked sceptical. "Okay, that totally explains why you were on your third video when I walked into the room too. Always clear your browser history," she rolled her eyes. "And anyway, trust me, even if you cleared your history I have ways of retrieving what you deleted. In other words, just don't do anything stupid. Too bad you're dumb, Gumo," she winked and turned her attention away from him again. Gumo just stood in a corner and continued to steam. Len looked entertained.

"I always love to see you two quarrel, it's so funny. Can you believe they're in a relationship, Miku?" Len nudged her. Miku gaped. Rin and Gumo were in a relationship? It certainly didn't seem that way to her! Gumo's head snapped up at that statement. Clearly he had gotten over his short-lived depression.

"Was! She broke up with me this morning over the phone! It was a twenty-second phone call!" Gumo accused. Rin just rolled her eyes, looking like she couldn't give a damn about what Gumo was saying. Miku had no idea whether she found the blonde funny or whether she respected her. Rin might seem rather eccentric, but no one could deny that the female Kagamine was a strong woman.

"I did _not_ break up with you, good Lord. I said the connection was really bad, we're breaking up, and I'll call you back pronto! That's why it was only twenty seconds! God," Rin snapped, not even bothering to look at her apparent boyfriend. Gumo blinked, then he sort of shrivelled up and turned away from the rest of them, an expression of shame evident on his face. Rin didn't react at all to this new development. "Now that we've gotten the useless one out of the way, let's focus on _you_ ," she spoke to Miku now, eyeing her like she was sizing up a prime slab of meat. Miku swallowed.

"Uh, I'm ready for anything," she said lamely. Somehow, she really wanted to impress Rin. It would be nice to amaze someone so remarkably acid-tongued. Rin seemed to be the complete opposite of her twin brother. Said twin brother was now poking around the flowers in the vases lining the corridor – they were still in the main corridor, which was narrow and filled with the scent of roses.

Rin ignored her brother too. She seemed to be very good at ignoring men in general. "That would be nice. Do try to keep up, would you?" Rin spun and walked off, Miku following hastily after her. The two men ambled along behind them, gladly taking their time. "You see, I'm just happy that Len finally found someone that he likes. Do you like my brother? Answer me honestly. You can say no if you want, I assure you that Len won't do anything more than just cry on the floor and binge on ice cream for a month. He's quite emotional," she stage whispered. Len glanced up from a white vase.

"I heard that!" he called out. "And I'm certainly not emotional! I'm not the one who started watching some Korean drama and had a complete meltdown when the main character died!" he said snidely. Rin only shot him a glare, not even bothering to bite back. Len backed down after a while.

"Uh…I like him. I think I do," she said lamely. "Which is really stupid because you know…uh, I found out about his _job_ and I don't know, I'm really confused. I should go and tell the police that I'm dating a murderer, but…but I don't _want_ to call the police!" she groaned, glancing at her date. Len and Gumo were deep in discussion about something again. They seemed to be talking about the painting Rin had in her living room. It was of a fat nude woman reclining on a posh long couch of some sort.

"It's all right to be confused, the world isn't split into just black and white," Rin gingerly reached out and patted her on the shoulder. Her hands were gloved too. She must be really terrified of outside bacteria. It wouldn't be surprising if she had a full-body suit somewhere. "But it's great that you like him. See, Len just received a new mission from our boss," Rin looked her full in the eye, "and for this mission, we need someone to pretend to be his wife. Our boss only has one assassin. That's Len. So here we have a logistics problem, and he refuses to hire an external freelancer because they're all bloody backstabbers…so he told me to grab some random female to work with Len. Do you see where I'm going with all this?" Rin smiled thinly. Miku smiled as well, but hers was just nervous.

"Can I say no?" she asked weakly. Rin just smiled again – this time, it was a more genuine smile – and patted her once more on the shoulder. She flinched. Yes, she should have listened to her gut. Coming here had _definitely_ been a very bad idea. Why didn't she ever listen to her intuition?

"I'm afraid not. See, now either you join us or we silence you permanently. It isn't the first time Len has killed someone he was romantically attached to, so don't get your hopes up," Rin warned. "And you're not even needed to carry out the murder. You're just there as arm candy, and maybe to help with a few other things. An errand girl of sorts, and just to fill the role of Len's wife. He'd like that. At most you'll be given lessons on basic self-defence…and our boss agreed to pay you slightly less than Len. Len will get eighty grand for this mission, and you will get fifty. How does that sound to you?"

Miku was hooked now. Fifty grand just to pretend to be someone's wife? She could do that. Fifty grand would go a long way to helping to fund her little brother's college tuition, and also maybe she and Luka could finally move out of that shitty small apartment they had found together after they finally graduated from university. "Okay, I'll do it," she took a deep breath, knowing that she was probably going to regret this sometime in the future. But the money was just far too tempting.

Rin grinned at her. "Great. Just follow me downstairs now and I'll give you a quick rundown on what is expected of you during the whole mission. It will be in a month, so clear your schedule. You'll be going to Paris for two weeks and you will know nothing of the true objectives, all right? To keep you safe. Len is the only one who will know, and he won't know everything either," Rin turned away, her white bow bobbing on top of her head. "Come on, let's go. If we get this over and done with quickly then maybe we can have some dessert, my fridge is full of snacks. And we can play GTA too!"

The boys perked up at the sound of food and videogames, and instantly they were surrounding her and Rin, demanding to know what was going on. Miku sighed, clenching and unclenching her fingers. Yeah, she was definitely going to regret this. But Len caught her eye and winked, and some of the tension left her body. Well, if Len was really as good as he claimed to be, they should be fine, right? Then she would walk away from all this fifty grand richer, plus she would have a two week experience in Paris to boot! She'd just think of it as a holiday rather than a mission. That might work.


	3. Chapter 3

"Where are we going?" Miku laughed awkwardly as she stumbled through the long, dark tunnel. It was a _very_ long tunnel. And it was dark because Rin had blindfolded her. She could hear Len and Gumo walking along behind her, but she couldn't hear Rin at all. Rin was somewhere in front of them, probably. Unless Rin had ditched her. But that was stupid, she wouldn't do that…right?

Thankfully, Rin was the one who responded to her question. "Our headquarters. There's an underground route from my house to our workplace, but obviously we can't let you know how to go there so we've blindfolded you for now. But no worries, we're not sending you to die or anything! Not yet at least," the blonde added cheerily. Miku swallowed. Her fifty thousand dollars was starting to seem like a small amount compared to the trauma that she had to go through. Len tutted.

"Don't scare her, Rin!" he complained. "The last time we disposed of someone was like, three years ago. I don't think we're going to do that again any time soon because no one would dare to cross our boss," he attempted to reassure her. Miku was obviously not very reassured. The fact that they _did_ actually bump off their employees, even if it had been three years ago, was very disturbing. Not that she expected anything less from someone who employed an assassin, but…why was she here again?

"Okay, we're here," she felt a hand on the back of her head and suddenly the blindfold came off. Bright light struck her eyes and immediately she closed them, trying to adjust to her surroundings. Opening her eyes just a tiny bit, she squinted at whatever was in front of her and saw Rin standing in front of a large steel door. Gumo was next to the blonde, but Len was by her side, whistling softly. He was whistling the Pokémon theme song. It annoyed her because that suddenly reminded her of how Len had already supposedly finished his Pokédex. She had not, but she certainly wasn't jealous!

Rin keyed something into the number pad beside the steel door, which swung open to reveal another walkway. They entered the walkway, which was a sterile white corridor with nothing of interest besides another steel door at the end, this time with a fingerprint scanner. Rin reluctantly removed her glove and pressed her thumb against the scanner, removing it almost immediately and blowing on her thumb before she placed her glove back on. The red light on the scanner blinked and she heard something humming, then the light turned green and the door swung open too, revealing yet another walkway. She saw another one of these steel doors at the end and wondered how many they would have to go through just to get to Rin's workplace. "Three more to go," Len spoke up beside her, as though he could read her mind. She whipped around to stare at him, and he shrugged. "I bet you were curious. Everyone we bring here the first time always wants to know how many there are."

"Why are there so many doors? Like, why can't you just combine all the scanners and whatnot into one door? Wouldn't it be so much easier and faster?" she asked as they stepped into the next walkway. Gumo was taking the lead now, Rin staring despondently down at her presumably tainted thumb. Miku would have laughed if she wasn't beginning to feel nervous. Her tummy was churning, either from the squid ink pasta or from her anxiety. The next door apparently had a retina scanner.

"Well, this is all to defend against intruders. Unless they have inside information they wouldn't know how many doors they have to go through, so it's unlikely they'll be prepared to break in! It's easy enough to crack a passcode or obtain a fingerprint, but from this door onwards everything is a lot harder. See, unless you cut out someone's eyeball you won't get through this one," Len indicated Gumo, who was standing right up against the scanner with one eye open wide. "We have extremely advanced security because our boss is incredibly paranoid about being caught by his enemies. I think this is where all his money goes," Len rolled his eyes. "Personally I think that it is much easier to just send me to kill off his enemies and I'd get paid more too for my work. But he's too stingy to pay me more than once a month," Len groused. His complaints caught the attention of his twin sister.

"More like because you're exceedingly particular about the kind of assignments you take and won't do anything that involves children," Rin pointed out disparagingly. Miku gasped – she didn't know what was more shocking, the idea that Len had some sort of conscience or the fact that children actually made their way onto this boss's list of enemies. Len just laughed. He sounded awkward.

"Aw, I can't kill kids," he ran his fingers through his hair. "They're so cute, even that Lexon brat. He's twelve years old and he's amazing at chess. Besides, most of them don't even know who they've managed to offend. Some of them are just victims of their circumstances!" he pointed out. Rin just rolled her eyes and turned to face the front just as Gumo successfully unlocked the door, revealing yet another door beyond. The four of them walked into the next corridor, and Gumo glanced back at Len, an expression of distaste on his face. Len stared back at the other man, suddenly looking very confused. "What? I'm not doing this. You can't make me do it," he folded his arms across his chest.

"You _promised_ you'd do it the next time. We flipped a coin and you lost, remember? So you do it!" Gumo folded his arms as well, refusing to budge. Miku glanced at the door and saw that there was a single long slit in the door, with two metal plates on either side of the slit. It didn't look like anything she had seen in movies and she had no idea how this contraption was supposed to identify them.

Len let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. But next time it's Rin's turn," he glared at his twin sister, then strode forward towards the steel door. The other two stood far away, and she did likewise, almost dreading what would happen next. If the three of them could get into an argument over who would finish this part, then surely it wasn't going to be a pleasant sight. Len placed his hands against the metal surface and, from what she saw, stuck his tongue out right against the narrow slit in the door.

A few seconds later, the two metal plates on either side of the gap slid back and out came two metallic arms with scary looking pincers. Miku watched aghast as the pincers grabbed onto Len's extended tongue. She couldn't really see his face from where she was standing, but she imagined that it wasn't comfortable. Ten seconds later – she knew it was ten seconds because she had been counting – the pincers and the arms retracted into the door and Len stepped away from the gap, gagging loudly. The door made a whirring sound and then it slid open, allowing them access into the passageway beyond. Len walked in, the three of them following behind him.

Right before she stepped past the open door, the others turned to look at her. She halted, slightly confused and very intimidated. "Okay, once you step into the room, don't move, all right?" Gumo said, sounding extremely serious. "You just stand right at the entrance. The next door uses motion detectors to observe the way you walk and move – everyone has their own unique way of walking, imposters won't be able to fool the system – and if they find anything different from what's registered in our database they'll send out lasers to incinerate you. So stay where you are until the three of us are at the other end," Len and Rin nodded too, Len looking surprisingly solemn.

She swallowed and nodded. Keeping Gumo's warning in mind, she carefully stepped past the doorway into the corridor beyond. The metal door behind her slid shut with an ominous 'clang' and she was stuck in the deadly passageway with the three of them. Len, Rin and Gumo started to walk, looking perfectly relaxed – she glanced around and saw cameras following their every movement. The three of them walked in very different ways – Len had a casual stride and swung his arms freely as he strolled, Gumo walked quickly like an impatient businessman, while Rin drifted along languidly, almost seeming to float across the ground. She hadn't noticed the differences until this moment.

The cameras were evidently satisfied and the red light she saw in every screen died. The door at the other end opened, and Len turned around, beckoning to her to come over. She scurried to where they were, and then he kept a firm hand on her elbow as he guided her into the room beyond. She looked around, scared but at the same time curious – this was her first time in a criminal's den, after all. To her surprise, everything looked pretty normal, just like any other office setting she might see on television. There were people sitting in individual cubicles, all tapping away at desktop computers. Most of them were wearing headpieces, some of them were speaking into microphones. Rin led the way into this office labyrinth, and most of the workers looked up and greeted her as she passed.

The entire space was rectangular, but it was a very _big_ rectangle. The desks were all separated from each other by an opaque panel, though of course people could still lean over and talk to each other if they wanted to. She could see a pair towards the right side of the room, chatting and laughing right now. One of them was drinking from a mug. The desks were all lined up next to each other and snaked across the room in a maze-like kind of formation. It made her head hurt just to look at it. She could not imagine how these people managed to work here every day. It seemed so claustrophobic.

"These are the hackers," Len whispered into her ear as Rin nodded to yet another person sitting in a cubicle. The whole room was white and spacious, with a high ceiling and very strong air-con – the air here was freezing cold, and she shivered, feeling little bumps on her skin. "Rin is their boss, but she doesn't come here very often. She prefers working in her own house. Too much bacteria floating around," he said dryly, casting his sister a look. Rin probably heard him since she was so close to them, but she didn't give any indication that she cared at all what her brother was saying about her.

They followed an empty winding passageway, sticking close to the walls, and eventually reached the other side of the office space. There were quite a few doorways leading off into other places from this room – Miku guessed that they led to other offices, toilets or pantries. She glanced at a few of the computer screens as she walked past but didn't understand anything she was seeing. She did notice a few bank and government websites though, and some funny looking internet browsers.

"Come on, we need to go meet the boss," Rin's impatient voice cut into her thoughts. Miku was jolted out of staring, hurrying along – she had fallen a little distance behind the other three. Len was whistling, looking remarkably carefree – she had to wonder if he was ever serious about his work. Didn't he get scared at all when he was tasked with murdering someone? Or maybe he had done it before so many times that he didn't have to think about it anymore. It was a pretty scary thought to have, and she shuddered, pushing the idea away. The less she knew, the better.

Len was the last to enter the next room, and he closed the door behind them before he continued on his way. This next room was arranged similarly to the previous, but there were far fewer people here. Compared to the thirty or so desks she saw earlier, there were only about ten people working here, and they all had much bigger tables than the hackers did. Each table was not joined with the next either, so everyone was doing their work individually. There was one empty desk, Miku noticed – as she glanced at it, she caught Gumo moving from the corner of her eye and turned to watch him walk over to that desk, taking off his wig and tossing the black mass onto the table. He reached up to scratch his head, light green hair spilling between his pale fingers. "My head feels liberated," he muttered, a few of the others glancing at him and smirking. They went back to their work quickly.

"Spy Division," Rin explained before she even had to ask. "This is where you go if you want to hire a stalker or any kind of creep in general. Gumo is the creepiest creep our boss has, so you should be seriously thankful that he didn't do anything more than pose as a waiter," Rin continued, giving Miku a very meaningful glance while ignoring Gumo's disgruntled look. The others in the room, who had to be spies as well, didn't even look up at the sound of Rin's voice. Miku guessed that they had heard her insults before enough times for them to get used to it. At least her words weren't directed towards anyone besides Gumo. The two of them certainly had a…interesting relationship.

"Whatever," was Gumo's witty comeback. Neither one of them said anything more to the other, but she and Len exchanged a look – she had to stifle a giggle at the expression on his face. He had his eyes crossed and he was spinning his finger around beside his head, revealing what he thought of Gumo and Rin's interaction. At that very moment though, his twin sister turned around and fixed him with the iciest glare Miku had ever seen, and Len promptly sobered and straightened up.

Rin looked at her too, but she didn't stare at her with the same intensity and a few seconds later the blonde turned away and strode out of the door at the other side of the room. Miku shivered. Just as Len said, Rin was extremely scary. With anyone else, Miku might have thought that her fear of germs was funny and kind of weird, but with Rin it just made her even more frightening. She thought that if she made Rin unhappy enough she would exterminate her the same way she destroyed all bacteria in her vicinity. She really thought that Len and Rin ought to switch jobs. Rin seemed much more like the stereotypical cold, silent, downright _intimidating_ assassin than Len did. Len was just so goofy and he never seemed to be serious about anything! Then again, she hadn't really seen him at work…

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Len had his hands placed behind his head and he was whistling away merrily, ignoring Gumo's look of irritation – the green haired man did not seem to be in the best of moods at the moment, which was perfectly understandable. When she went to Paris with Len, she might have to witness him killing another person first-hand. The very thought made her stomach churn. "Hey, actually…" she spoke up, catching Rin's attention. The blonde turned back slightly so that Miku could see her profile, but she didn't stop walking. "There are so many other girls in this organisation," she muttered, remembering the previous two rooms they had gone through. Right now, they were walking down a narrow hallway which was white, sterile and also reminded her of the passageways between the five doors they cleared to gain access to this place. She really was starting to feel claustrophobic. No wonder Rin didn't want to work here with the other hackers.

Rin didn't need to hear anymore to figure out what Miku was trying to say. "We can't spare any of our hackers," she explained smoothly, stopping before a junction. This passageway branched out into three different hallways, two of them stopping before doors and the middle one leading to an elevator. Gumo brushed past her towards the elevator and stopped in front of a metal cylinder next to the door, fishing around in his pocket for something. "They're all important and besides, most of them are extraordinarily clumsy. There's a reason why they're hackers and not spies. As for Gumo's division, most of them are male, and Len doesn't like to work with other men…something about people thinking he's gay. He's really sensitive to that," Len shot her a glare, which she brushed off.

"But there are female spies right? Or other people in the organisation? Or even you, maybe?" Miku tried. "Why would you find someone who doesn't belong to um, your organisation? Like isn't it scarier to trust someone from the outside?" she laughed nervously. The fifty thousand dollars dangled in front of her, a tantalising dream. She really wanted that money, but she was starting to have second thoughts now. All these procedures and all the secrecy were really beginning to unnerve her, and she badly wanted to get out of here. If she saw _one more_ steel door, she'd explode.

Gumo pulled out a key card and swiped it down a slit in the cylinder, pressing the button on top of it as he did so. The lift doors slid open smoothly, and Gumo turned around, ushering them all in. She reluctantly got into the lift – it was a pretty small lift, and she was forced to stand really close to Len. Not that she minded very much. Standing near Len gave her the butterflies, but whether it was in a good or bad way she wasn't so sure at the moment. Rin was standing in the middle of the elevator, and the other three were careful to place themselves a good arm's length away from the blonde. Miku did not want to accidentally touch Rin and unleash a hysterical fit about hygiene or filthy bacteria.

"Me? Going out of my house? Are you insane?" Rin continued where they left off, giving her a droll look. Miku swallowed. That was a valid point. "As for the other women in the organisation…huh. Well, Len here is really choosy about his partner," she admitted, "and he hates every other woman in this place. Besides Boss's personal secretary, and well…she won't be free to accompany him," she clarified. Miku almost wanted to ask why the secretary couldn't go, but Len placed a firm hand on her shoulder and she turned back towards him. There was a panic-stricken look on his face and he had his finger placed against his lips, so she took the hint and kept quiet despite her curiosity.

Gumo, who had entered the elevator last and was the nearest to the lift buttons, leant over and jabbed the one that said twentieth floor, and she frowned, wondering where they were exactly. After all, she was pretty sure that they were underground, but now it was starting to seem like they were under some other building – maybe in the basement? She glanced up at the small display over the doors and saw that they were now going up to B4. Yes, they were in some building's basement.

No one said a single word as the elevator went up. She watched the red digits on the display changing, the numbers getting bigger and bigger. The elevator was really cold, now that she was paying attention to it. Rin shifted her weight from one foot to the other and Len took out his phone, sliding it up and down – he was using a sliding phone, much to her surprise. She thought those things had practically disappeared a few years ago. Gumo was staring right ahead at the wall, ignoring the rest of them, and she was just standing here. She didn't know if she was nervous or just bored.

The elevator reached the twentieth floor, letting out a 'ding' to inform them that they had arrived. The doors slid open again and they poured out into another walkway. This one was quite unlike the ones in the basement though. Those were tight, narrow and stifling. Here, the walls were cream and decorated with tasteful paintings, and there were wide windows which flooded the entire space with natural light and made the area seem bigger than it really was. The carpet was thick and intricately woven, with eye-catching colours and patterns. Suddenly, she was no longer in a top-secret underground lair, but in the office of some highly respected businessman. She swallowed.

This was scary too, but in a whole other way. Everything around her now reminded her of interviews and jobs and people in suits with bored expressions and lists of irrelevant questions. But it was the kind of fear that she was used to dealing with, at least. They started to walk down the passageway, which opened up into a small room, decorated in the same way as the outside walkway. There was a desk at the very edge of the room, right next to a closed door, and there was a woman sitting at the desk, typing away at a desktop computer. She glanced up from her work when they came in.

"Oh, it's you!" she exclaimed, lifting her spectacles and peering at them. The woman had long, cherry coloured hair and bright pink eyes. There was a single lock of hair that stuck up on top of her head, and Miku watched as the woman absentmindedly reached up to flatten it. The lock of hair just sprang back up as though nothing had happened. "Boss is expecting you. He says that he's really interested in finding out who managed to get Lenny's attention," she laughed, beaming at Miku.

Miku felt strangely disoriented. It was very weird to hear someone calling Len by a nickname. She would never dare to nickname a murderer, but maybe Len and this woman were good friends. This had to be the personal secretary that Rin had mentioned. She glanced behind at Len, and noticed a decidedly forced-looking smile on his face. "Oh, she's a gem, Miki," he answered, his voice jovial as ever. If she hadn't looked at him she wouldn't have known there was anything wrong. "Anyway, you might want to dab on more concealer, I can see the hickey on your neck," he added. Miku blinked and squinted at the woman's neck, noticing that there was, indeed, a small bruise just above the edge of her stiff white collar. The woman gasped and slapped a hand over her pale neck.

"Oh, I'll cover it right away. Thanks for pointing it out, Lenny. Good day to you all!" she chirruped, waving at Rin and Gumo. The other two nodded, Gumo glancing at Len and clearly resisting the urge to grin. Len ignored him. Rin did not react at all, but Miku wasn't surprised by that. Even within the very short amount of time she knew Kagamine Rin, she figured that Rin was not someone who often reacted to things. The blonde marched forward, placing a hand against the shiny metal doorknob.

Miku swallowed, wondering what sort of man would be behind that door. Would he be some scary mob boss? A famous businessman who had dealings with the underworld? Or maybe he was a foreign politician, or…or something! Anything was possible at this point. Her palms were clammy. Rin opened the door and stood aside, gesturing to Miku to go in first. Unhappily, she complied.

The first thing she noticed when she entered the office was the carpet since she kept her gaze fixed on the floor. It was a very lovely design, really, being part of the same carpet as the one outside. It looked decidedly exotic. She heard muffled footsteps and assumed that the others had followed her inside too. She squeezed her eyes shut, heart racing in her chest, not quite daring to look up and find out who was in charge of this entire organisation. Any person who had to hire an assassin couldn't possibly be anyone good, right? Her palms were really sweaty now. She hated how damp they were.

"Miku?" a vaguely familiar voice asked, sounding very surprised. Her eyes flew open and instinctively she looked towards where the voice came from – her gaze fell upon a young man with bright, silvery hair and dual coloured eyes, one green and one blue. She gaped. This could not be possible. There was no way that the young man she knew was the same person as this man standing before her in this office, a man who was in charge of an entire group of hackers, spies and one assassin. _No way_ –

"Utatane Piko!" she exploded, storming towards the man, who flinched noticeably when she yelled out his name. She heard Len calling her name worriedly but at this point, she was too annoyed to really care. "You still owe me two hundred bucks! Don't think that I forgot our bet just because you transferred universities – _hey_ , are you listening to me?" she placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the man. Piko adjusted his tie and coughed, a nervous smile on his face. "Answer me!" she yelled.

"All right, all right! Jesus!" Piko exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "I thought I got away from you! Bloody hell, you haunt me everywhere I go," he muttered, slanting his gaze towards her. Then his nervous smile became sly. "But you're still really hot, you know? Maybe you and I, we can go out for coffee sometime soon?" he breathed, his hand sneakily drifting towards hers. But Miku was very used to his advances and she whipped her hand out of range, still glaring at the man.

"Not until you give me my two hundred bucks. You clearly can afford it, sitting up in this swanky office and everything," she fumed, looking around the office with new eyes now. Of course it had to belong to Utatane Piko. The guy had made her life a living hell! Well, not really. Not until they broke up. He was a complete angel until _he_ dumped her and completely vanished without ever giving her the two hundred dollars he owed her – the result of him losing a bet against her. He should have known better than to doubt his then-girlfriend's drinking abilities. Miku was a very good drinker and had easily downed eight shots of vodka with no problem. She did throw up the next day, but she wasn't going to admit that to him. "So pay up now," she demanded, "I'm not letting this one go, you ass!"

Piko muttered something inaudible, reaching into his pocket and drawing out his leather wallet – which she noted enviously was Hermès – and drew out four fifty-dollar bills. "You're so persistent," he rolled his dual-coloured eyes, which were the prettiest thing about him. Seriously, she only dated him because of his eyes. And the fact that he was drop-dead gorgeous, and really rich to boot. But _he_ was also the reason why she developed the idea that the prettier the face, the uglier the heart. Piko was a complete jerk. She thought she now had an idea where the secretary outside had gotten her hickey from. "But that's what I like about you. So, how about that coffee?" he smirked.

Before she was forced to answer, she heard someone clearing their throat behind her. "Uh, Boss," Rin's cold, clear voice cut through the air, "you said that you needed someone to accompany Len on his mission to Paris. So we have found someone for you. Do you think she is suitable?" Rin asked, voice flat and monotonous. Miku flinched. The blonde was distant enough when talking to them, but with her superior she sounded just like her security system – robotic and unemotional. It was really frightening. Miku would not ever want to be locked up in a room with just Rin for company.

She had turned back when Rin spoke, and now she faced forward again only to realise that Piko had sidled closer to her while she was distracted, encroaching on her personal space. She skittered back and glared at him. Piko seemed more amused than offended. "Oh yeah, she's wonderful," he purred, eyeing her hungrily. She rolled her eyes. Piko never changed. In their university days, he was a good-looking playboy billionaire with plenty of daddy's money to burn. Even after graduating, it seemed like he barely changed…but then again, it had only been four years since the last time she saw him, so it shouldn't be shocking that Piko hadn't changed. She'd be more surprised if he did.

" _You_ broke up with me because I refused to suck you off!" she pointed out, jabbing her finger into his shoulder. Piko winced. "So stop!" she punctuated every word with a jab. "Thinking! That! I'll! Sleep! With! You! Again!" she finished, crossing her arms over her chest. Piko groaned, closing one eye, but the open blue one still stared intently at her. He was leaving his blue eye open on purpose. He knew she was a sucker for blue eyes. "Stop looking at me!" she exclaimed, turning away.

This made her face Len, and she glanced at the blond haired assassin, suddenly remembering that he was interested in her and this exchange was probably making him uncomfortable. Len was staring at them with his mouth hanging slightly open, looking between her and Piko like they were two exotic animals engaged in a bizarre mating ritual. Their eyes met and her heart began to race. Oh, _there_ were the blue eyes she adored. Piko had nothing on Len. She started towards him, but suddenly she felt a hand latch around her wrist and she whipped back to see Piko smirking at her. If the look was meant to be seductive, then sad to say it was actually working, but Miku swallowed and tried to pull away. She failed. "Hey, I know I said I'd pay you less than Len, but that was before I found out it was you. How about I give you another offer? You don't go to Paris. You stay with me, and I double the amount of money you'll get after the whole thing is over. What do you say?" he lifted an eyebrow.

"What am I, a prostitute now?" Miku seethed. She turned towards Len, who was still staring, shell-shocked, at her and Piko. _Help me_ , she mouthed. Len blinked and shook himself, hurrying over to them. The silver haired man looked up at Len as he approached, his face losing the sly smile and becoming more serious. Yeah, if only Piko would be more business-like around her. Wasn't he the big boss of this organisation or something? Shouldn't he behave more appropriately, then? And since when was Utatane Piko involved with assassins and hackers anyway? She ought to ask, but she wasn't in the mood to talk to this jerk at the moment. She just _really_ wanted to wrench his hand off her wrist.

"Uh, Boss, she has to come with me. We're getting married in Paris," Len announced. Piko abruptly let go of her, but she was so shocked that she just stayed where she was and gaped up at Len. Len beamed. "I know we were only supposed to pretend we're like, husband and wife, but we totally hit it off on the way up from the basement and I think she's the one, you know?" he continued. Scarily enough, Miku couldn't tell if he was being serious or not, and evidently neither could Piko.

"…Len. You are an assassin," Piko said flatly, letting his hand flutter up to rest against his forehead. For a moment, he looked exhausted. "You _can't_ get married, at least not officially. The moment your name shows up on any government register you're _dead_ , and you know that, right?" Piko shook his head. Glad that for now, the two men seemed to have forgotten about her, she scampered back to where Rin and Gumo were standing, deciding that being with Rin was still safer than staying near Piko. The other two gave her quizzical looks as she returned, but they didn't ask anything for now.

"Screw the system," Len groaned, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm Kagamine Len and I'm one of the best hitmen in the world. I can do whatever I want," he retorted, staring down his boss. Piko and Len engaged in some kind of intense staring competition, and for a while the atmosphere here was just awkward and tense. Gumo started to whistle, obviously trying to fill up the silence, but neither the big boss nor the assassin seemed to be distracted by Gumo's tuneless whistling, and eventually the green haired spy just gave up. Rin, however, stepped forward and, in a very no-nonsense kind of way, grabbed both men by the collars of their shirts. Len yelled something which sounded like "what the baby bazooka" while Piko just outright cussed, but it broke the stupid stare-off between them.

"You two are twenty-four years old, behave like your age!" Rin scolded, for once sounding like a mother rather than a cold, distant, unfeeling master hacker with a penchant for sarcasm and concealed threats. Len hung his head, actually looking rather sorry for himself, while Piko huffed and broke free of Rin's grip. Nevertheless, he didn't retort, and Rin let go of Len as well, looking satisfied.

"Fine, I'll get down to business," Piko groused. "So as you know by now, this mission is in Paris. There's some guy who dissed me the other time at an awards ceremony during the Pentix Innovation Conference, and I want him dead. No one crosses Utatane Piko or my father and lives to talk about it," Piko sniffed. "But the problem is that he's…well, he's rich too, and he knows that he made me mad so he has twenty-four-hour protection. In Paris though, there will be another press session, this time about some fancy new gadget his company released, and he'll be without security while in the hotel since bodyguards aren't permitted to stay at the session. It's a short window, you only have time between breaks to do anything, but I trust the best assassin in the world to find a way," Piko glanced at Len. "That's just the gist of it, which you already know. Rin has the folders prepared for you and your chosen partner," he looked towards her now, a smirk on his face. She ignored him.

"I don't have the folders," Rin piped up, sounding confused. Piko stared at her for a second, then groaned as realisation hit him. Leaning over his desk to the intercom next to his laptop, he pressed a button. The four of them waited. There were a few seconds of crackling as the connection stabilised.

"Miki," Piko deadpanned into the intercom when the crackling was reduced. "What the hell, I told you to send Rin those documents about the mission last week. Did you overdose on marijuana or something again?" he raised his voice, sounding rather annoyed. There was a faint response, she couldn't hear what the other person replied, but Piko just sighed and shook his head, still irritated. "Fine. You're a damn lazy piece of shit, I don't even know why I keep you around," he muttered. He released the button, cutting the connection, and glanced up at them. "You can collect the folders from Miki on the way out. She forgot to scan them and send them over last week, so here we go," Piko said flatly, reaching up with his other hand to smooth his silver fringe out of his eyes.

"Scanning isn't safe, as I've told you before many times," Rin responded just as flatly, staring straight at her boss. Rin didn't seem to have much respect for anyone of the opposite gender, come to think of it. "For someone who likes to eavesdrop on his employees' conversations, you seem to know awful little about internet security. There is no such thing as privacy on the web," she stressed. Piko just yawned and stretched, tugging at the collar of his long-sleeved top. "Why do I even bother?" she heard Rin murmur to herself, and caught the blonde shaking her head disapprovingly.

"All right, we'll just make our way out now," Gumo suddenly butted in, the first time she heard the spy say anything ever since they entered this office. "Let's go, we can go grab a bite somewhere. I'm famished!" he slipped out of the office so quickly that he was gone within a blink. Rin ambled along after her boyfriend, and Len edged away from Piko, coming closer to her. Gumo stuck his head back in. "If you two don't hurry up, I'm leaving without you," he warned.

"Coming, coming!" Len yelled. He grinned at his boss. "Don't forget to pay me this time, Boss, or else Rin _will_ leak your sex tape to the entire organisation, including all those from the first floor up. I mean," he continued, draping an arm around her shoulders – she was surprised by the gesture, but she felt a lot more comfortable with this contact than with Piko's pushiness – "no one from the basements will be shocked, but could you imagine your normal office workers finding out about their boss's secret affair with his secretary? I think that might cause a stir," he winked playfully.

Piko glared at him. "Get out, Kagamine, before I cut your pay any further," he narrowed his eyes. Len made a face and twirled around, giving him a small wave before strolling out of the office. Miku scurried out beside him. She didn't want to spend a single second alone with Utatane Piko. It was bad enough knowing that he was now her _sort-of_ boss. She knew it was only temporary, but the idea of working for this man left a sour taste in her mouth. After all, she couldn't stand the snotty brat.

Rin and Gumo were waiting outside, Miki staring curiously at them. Gumo also happened to be carrying two thick folders, which Miku supposed were the objectives or whatever Piko had in mind for her and Len. She swallowed. Yesterday she couldn't have imagined that the innocent, ordinary Hatsune Miku would be involved in all this nasty business. But she also wouldn't think that she would run into Kagamine Len, who was probably the most gorgeous guy she had ever seen, and she definitely wouldn't have imagined she would finally get her rightful two hundred bucks. So she was not entirely sure if all the events that took place today were good or bad. She eyed Len, who was closing the door to the office quietly behind him. Hmm, it was probably more of _good_ , actually…

"How do you know our boss?" Len whisper-shouted, whipping around the moment the door was closed. She blinked. He looked extremely agitated. "And you two slept together before? Oh my god," he shook his head, looking almost dazed. She was vaguely reminded of her own reaction when he killed two men, but surely this was too huge an overreaction. Sleeping with someone was not the same thing as murdering people! But Len's look of utter shock seemed to suggest otherwise.

"Uh…he went to my university. We hooked up in our first year, he disappeared in the second year…we broke up before that," she clarified. "His idea, not mine. And well, he owed me two hundred dollars because he underestimated my drinking ability," she tapped her finger against her chin, thinking. "We _did_ sleep together once or twice, but never a lot because uh, he's...all right, I think that's enough for now," she concluded, noticing Gumo's keen interest and Rin's expression of semi-distaste. Len just continued to look absolutely flabbergasted, and she did not know why.

"Len's a virgin," Rin stage-whispered to Miku. Her confusion was clearly very obvious. "So his manly pride is just hurt by the idea that his crush has more experience than him, but give him a while. He'll get over it," Rin smirked, the first time she saw such an expression on the blonde's face. Rin's words seemed to snap Len out of his trance and he glared at his sister wordlessly, more annoyed than upset.

"Just because I don't say anything doesn't mean you know _everything_ ," he sniped. "I'd like to keep the status of my virginity, or possible lack thereof, a secret for now. Let's just go and get some food, I'm starving," he declared, giving Miku a warm smile. She was honestly really startled by his sudden change in mood, but didn't question it too much, deciding it would be better to just go with the flow. Though going with the flow really was how she ended up in this messy situation in the first place. Gumo seconded that, so they all headed back down to the elevator, Miki calling out goodbye to "Lenny" as they left. She didn't miss the way Len cringed when she said that. He let out a sigh of relief when they all piled into the elevator, and Miku made a mental note to ask him what was up with Miki.

"Where to for teatime?" Rin asked primly. "I will need to decide if I want to risk the contamination that comes with going to public eateries. If the food is not up to par, then I'll just go home," she folded her gloved hands together before her. Gumo suggested a café Miku knew and actually rather liked, and wasn't too far from her house either so she would be able to just go home right after that. It was a nice thought. Rin apparently had quite a fondness for the brownies there so she reluctantly agreed to expose herself to the outside world. Throughout it all, Len didn't say a single word, which she thought was quite unlike him, so she looked at him and wondered what he was thinking.

He was fiddling around with his sliding phone again, sliding it up and down, up and down. But he looked up at the same moment she glanced at him and she saw his eyes twinkle. She smiled back. Len was, she was discovering, a very complex person. She would love to find out more about him.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'll pay," Miku insisted, feeling extremely uncomfortable under Rin's scrutiny. Rin and Gumo were looking back and forth between her and Len, as though they were watching a tennis match.

"No, no. You went through all that trouble today, and all you want is a chocolate éclair? It's too little, and that's utter disrespect towards this establishment!" Len retorted aggressively, staring her down.

"But you paid for lunch!" she argued back, fumbling around in her purse for her wallet. She might not be earning a lot from her part-time retail job, but she earned enough to get by and she could pay for the occasional small indulgence. Of course she couldn't keep splurging and dining out, and of course she wished she could eat more than a chocolate éclair…but no, she couldn't just let Len pay for everything. She was young and independent, and she didn't need to rely on someone else.

"He does earn a lot more than you, you know," Rin interjected, folding her arms across her chest. Though Rin was slightly shorter than Miku, she couldn't help but feel that the blonde was somehow able to look down her nose at her. It was very strange. "Just let him spend on you for once. My twin happens to be terribly stingy, so you ought to appreciate the fact that he's willing to pay for you," Rin shrugged, giving her two cents worth. Miku made a face, glancing around at the male twin.

Len just shrugged too, his sister probably having already said what he wanted to say. It must be the whole twin connection thing, where one twin could somehow guess what was on the mind of the other. Or something like that. She had read an article about this strange twin phenomenon in some magazine once. "Well…fine, if you absolutely insist," she sighed, looking up at the menu over the counter. "Then I'd like a cappuccino and some royal milk pudding as well!" she finally decided.

"Sure, coming right up!" Len declared. "You and Rin just go and sit first, Gumo and I will take care of everything," he darted towards the short queue, Gumo following him in a less enthusiastic fashion. Miku gulped. Being alone with Kagamine Rin was genuinely scary, but the blonde didn't make any fuss about being with her and just set off to look for a table. Miku trailed along behind her, suddenly feeling like she was a child again, out shopping with her mother, and she had to follow her around everywhere without annoying her. She bet Rin would make an absolutely terrifying mother.

Rin found a seat in practically no time at all, which was amazing because this café – Duke Royale – was usually packed to the brim at this hour. Duke Royale was a small, cosy café not very far from the small apartment she shared with Luka, and it was popular among young working adults and hippies. The atmosphere here was warm and welcoming, with tea lights and scented candles everywhere, and there were all kinds of knickknacks on the shelves, with little black and white photographs of the owner and her family framed up on the wooden walls. Miku liked this place, but cafés were pretty expensive so she didn't have a chance to come here and eat very often. One éclair could easily cost her six dollars, and the cappuccino was another eight! Along with that royal milk pudding, which was five dollars, the total bill was almost twenty dollars. She could eat three meals or more with that.

She hastily sat opposite Rin, who had her gloved hands placed primly on the table before her. The blonde gave her a long, measured look. "So how are you feeling about this entire situation?" she asked, tilting her head. "Being unexpectedly thrust into an underground organisation and running into your old boyfriend, who also happens to be in charge of the covert assignment that we pushed you into taking up. It must all be very overwhelming for you," Rin actually sounded sympathetic, which was just so out of character that Miku couldn't help but stare wordlessly at the blonde.

"Uh…I'm coping okay, I guess," she finally answered, realising that she sounded extremely lame. But what else was she supposed to say? "It really is a surprise, but from the very moment I found out what Len worked as, I think my perception of what's possible and what's not just kinda changed?" which was true, now that she thought about it. Everything was still extremely shocking, but she felt almost cushioned from it. It was like she was watching a movie now, a movie about someone else's life, but she knew it wasn't a movie nor was it a nightmare. She felt pain when she pinched herself.

"I did a background check on you before deciding to get you into the whole assignment," Rin tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, smoothing it down carefully. Not a single strand of hair was out of place, her sleek bob neat and perfect. Miku became aware of how messy her teal hair was in contrast to the hacker's. She did brush her hair nicely before she came out, but it was long and the air seemed to be a little more humid than usual today, so it was beginning to frizz and tangle. She self-consciously ran her own fingers through her hair, and winced when they caught on a knot.

"A background check? What did you find out?" she asked, tugging her fingers away from the tangled knot of teal hair and eyeing the counter, wondering when Len and Gumo would come back to the table. They were getting closer to the counter now, with three people still ahead of them. The two of them were chatting about something – then, as Miku continued to stare idly at them, Len looked up from his conversation with Gumo and gave her a big grin. She jumped, feeling her cheeks flush.

"Well, not that much because I didn't really bother to search too deep," Rin's words caught her attention and she looked back at the blonde. Rin was glancing around the café as well, her blue eyes narrowed – eyes the exact same shade of bright blue as Len's, yet so different for her gaze was icy cold instead of warm and welcoming – and Miku wondered what Rin was looking out for. "I know that you graduated from Santio University, and you majored in English Literature. Your best friend and roommate Megurine Luka was a Literature student as well. Right now, both of you are working – you as a part-time sales assistant in Mancy's, but I didn't bother to find out your roommate's job. You have a younger brother called Hatsune Mikuo, and you're working desperately hard now so that you can afford to send him to college. Your father died during your second year in university and your mother has never really gotten over his death, so recently she's taken to drinking. Your aunt and uncle helped to fund the rest of your university years, but they won't do the same for your little brother so you're worried about that. And that's the main reason why you accepted our job, isn't it?"

Miku gaped at the blonde. Rin looked coolly back at her, awaiting a response, and finally she let out a small squeak of acknowledgement. How had Rin managed to find all that out? Most of what she said wasn't even stuff she posted on social media – okay sure, it would be easy enough to figure out which school she came from and her major if Rin had her Facebook account, and probably Luka being her roommate and course mate was information that could be filtered out from her social media as well. But her father's death, her mother's drinking problem, her aunt and uncle and her younger brother…these were all private family matters. She had never posted about it online…

"I have my methods," Rin added. Her confusion must have been very obvious. "Yes, your family situation wasn't on your Facebook or any other social media accounts, but let's just say that other people who are aware of the situation might have said something in passing, and if you're able to piece together all the random strings of information, you can paint a fairly complete picture of the entire situation," she paused. "I offer my condolences for your father's passing. I saw that it was a freak accident – someone who was trying to commit suicide landed on him. The original jumper survived, but your father…" her words trailed off. Miku swallowed. There was a lump in her throat.

"It's all right. It's been four years so um, I'm kind of…used to it I guess," she struggled to say. "But let's change the subject," she added quickly so that Rin wouldn't continue talking about her family history. She didn't like to think about what happened four years ago. Her little brother was really smart and thankfully he had managed to secure a small scholarship that would fund his university education, so long as he agreed to major in software engineering and was bonded to the company for three years after graduation. But the living allowance he was given simply wouldn't be enough to cover his cost of living – the scholarship paid for his tuition and textbooks, but only gave two hundred dollars a month for other costs. He had to pay for campus accommodation and food, and Miku knew from personal experience that two hundred dollars simply wouldn't be enough.

She didn't want Mikuo to get a job and distract himself from his studies, since if his GPA slipped below the threshold required to retain his scholarship, the scholarship would be revoked and he would have to pay back everything he was ever given up till that point. So she told him to study, and she would fund his four years in university. She had to save up as much money as she possibly could. But it was a struggle to even feed herself since her part-time job didn't pay very much, and she and Luka had to pay the rent for their room as well. After all her necessary bills were paid and she set aside some money for her brother, Miku rarely ever had enough to really splurge on herself. This month was slightly better though since she had exceeded her sales quota and got a bonus for her efforts, but she was being careful not to splurge on anything. Though she really did want new shoes.

Four years had taught her how to be frugal with her money, but before that she had been quite the spendthrift. That was how she caught the attention of Utatane Piko, the billionaire playboy. Actually, Miku sometimes wished that they hadn't broken up in their first year because it was during her second year in university that her whole life was turned upside-down. At least Piko would have been able to pay for some of her expenses back then – he spent money like it was nothing. But she was also somewhat glad that she had been forced to undergo such a gruelling trial, because now she knew how to budget properly and could actually pay her bills in time, and she never exceeded her credit card limit either. The same could not exactly be said for Luka, but Luka did pay rent at least.

"If it helps, Len and I…didn't have the happiest childhood either," Rin's tone softened, and Miku was dragged away from her self-pitying thoughts. "We were separated when we were little. He might have told you that he started his special training when he was eight, but he probably didn't mention that he was taken by force. Our mother was…" Rin paused, "she was part of a research organisation that was determined to breed the perfect weapon, and coincidentally her genes were compatible with this new serum that they wanted to test out. And even better when she gave birth to twins, so they could have a control when observing the effects of the serum…I think I'll stop here," she added, her gaze darting up past Miku. Miku glanced behind her and saw Len and Gumo coming back with a tray each, Len looking like his characteristic happy-go-lucky self. He didn't seem to have heard them.

"What are you guys talking about?" Len asked, reaching their table and setting down his tray of food. She saw her cappuccino, her royal milk pudding and her chocolate éclair. Before she could reach out and take them off the tray, Len intercepted and did the job for her, even setting down a paper napkin and a dessert spoon carefully next to her plate. He sat next to her, setting down his own desserts – banana pie and a dark chocolate cheesecake – before he put the empty tray on a nearby, recently vacated table. Miku glanced at Rin and saw the blonde shake her head at her, an almost imperceptible movement, so she decided to hold her tongue and allowed Rin to answer.

"Nothing much, just about Miku's past. And how she feels about being forced to take on this assignment," Rin's words were calm and neutral. "I certainly couldn't imagine how I'd be feeling if I were in her position. A normal civilian one day, and an assassin's assistant the next. Who would have imagined such a thing?" she glanced at Miku, but she couldn't read the expression on her face.

"Aw, yeah," Len sounded sympathetic. "I couldn't imagine myself in your place either, Miku. And you ended up running into your ex! Isn't life just a series of strange coincidences?" he shook his head, picking up his dessert spoon. Gumo, who was now sitting stiffly next to Rin, was sipping primly from a cup of vanilla milk. He had given Rin her order – an orange chiffon cake with a cup of espresso – and the two of them seemed to be entirely ignoring each other. They really had an odd relationship.

"I didn't expect to run into Piko, definitely," she shook her head. "I mean, when you all talked about a boss, I was thinking like…I don't know, one of those mafia bosses in movies and all. The brooding old man with like, two bodyguards and a moustache, you know? And it ends up being a spoilt brat I knew from my university days. And now I have to work under him!" she groaned, stabbing viciously into her chocolate éclair. The smooth chocolate cream within oozed out in a very satisfying way.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from his amorous advances!" Len told her, and he sounded so sincere when he said this that she couldn't help but giggle. Gumo just sighed and rolled his eyes, while Rin nibbled peacefully at her chiffon cake, her gaze flitting constantly between her and Len. "On another note, Miku," Len added, "when will you be free to come to our office again? Since if you're going to accompany me to Paris, you'll need some basic self-defence knowledge…unless you already practice a martial art or a sport or something?" he tilted his head, his smile so bright that it was dazzling.

"Um…I used to learn jujitsu, but that was really long ago, I'm not sure if I can still remember how to use what I learnt. But I still have the strength from my old training, I guess. Does that help?" she shrugged, feeling self-conscious when all three pairs of eyes focused upon her. Len's smile widened.

"Oh, that's wonderful! Then I think you're all set, actually. I mean, I'm not expecting you to be in any danger at all, it should be a pretty easy job. We'll be in and out in a flash," he moved his spoon over, stealing some of her éclair. She let him – he was the one paying for her, after all. "But if you want you can still come by sometime, maybe see what we're up to when we're preparing for a job. I'm going to kind of disappear for a while too, until Paris," he stuck the bit of éclair and chocolate cream in his mouth, closing his eyes in bliss. "It'd be nice if you could come and take a look," he added.

Before she could answer, Gumo spoke up – the first time the man had said anything in her vicinity since they entered the café. She distinctly remembered him being a lot chattier while they were at the restaurant. "Yeah, it'd be nice if you could come and take a look. Better that you have an idea of what goes on behind the scenes while Len runs around doing the high-profile things," the green haired man rolled his eyes, sighing loudly. "I sometimes wonder why our boss would send _Len_ , of all people, to black-tie events, but I guess that if he's done well all these times then he should be fine…"

Len looked affronted, but playfully so. At least she didn't think he would get legitimately upset over something like that. "Don't underestimate the amount of training I went through. I might goof off outside of work but I take my job really seriously!" he protested, now stealing some of Miku's drink.

"That's right, Gumo. Len can actually be a lot more professional than you, you know," Rin took her brother's side, and Gumo raised his hands in a show of surrender as the Kagamine twins ganged up against him. Miku guessed that Rin did care a lot for her brother, even if she didn't seem like the friendliest or warmest of people. She was sure that Rin cared for her boyfriend as well, just maybe not in a very…obvious kind of way. "I agree with both of them, Miku. You should drop by on your off days so that you aren't completely clueless when you fly to Paris. Gumo might go along if backup is necessary, but I will only be watching via satellite and CCTV so if you're separated from Len, you will need to know what to do. It won't do well for you to stand out, especially not in the public eye."

"Oh, but…I don't really know how to get to the office by myself," she grimaced, "and you have so many layers of security anyway. How am I supposed to drop by? Wouldn't I have to contact Len or something every time I wanted to come? It would be such a hassle," she hedged. It really wasn't that she didn't want to come – okay, maybe she was slightly reluctant to go since that meant sacrificing her precious free time – but going over to that heavily protected underground headquarters just seemed so…inconvenient. And it would be inconvenient for all the parties involved, not just her.

"That's not a problem," Rin responded coolly. "The next time you come, we'll get all the information necessary to grant you access – your fingerprints, retina scans, DNA and gait. The technicians will settle your entry pass so you can come in whenever you want. As for the location…well, actually very few of the preparations will be made in our headquarters. We have branch offices throughout the city and most of the work is spread evenly between these offices. You can drop by any one of them – there's one that's practically right outside your apartment – and from there, you can actually access the headquarters if you really want to. But I'm just letting you know that going there isn't absolutely necessary. I'm sure that Len will opt to train and prepare wherever is most convenient for you," Rin concluded, shooting her brother a glance. Len just returned the look, and he seemed to agree.

"It still sounds troublesome…" Miku tried to worm her way out of it, but the intensity of Rin's stare was just too much for her to handle and she fell silent, choosing to nod wordlessly. Rin gave her a satisfied smile and then the four of them continued to eat their desserts, chatting about interesting stories from their past. Rin shared the least, Gumo had many entertaining tales involving cross-dressing so he could infiltrate places, and Len just laughed at everything but revealed hardly anything about himself. The three of them asked her the most questions, and she shared the most about her past – she got the feeling that they were trying to figure out what kind of person she was, and she wondered what they would ultimately discover about her. It still seemed so surreal, that she was caught up in all this business. It hadn't even been an entire day, but so much had changed.

"You know you can't tell anyone about this, right?" Gumo mentioned after she finished sharing a fairly embarrassing story about Piko and the first time they went out together. "The job, the trip to Paris, what you're involved in…you can't tell anyone, not even your best friend or your family. We all share a verbal contract, you see. I mean, there's really no point in having a written one when we have all your details and history, and we have you under constant surveillance. It might feel very intrusive but please understand that we're taking these measures for our own sake as well. You're a stranger. Len might trust you, but Len is pretty eccentric and the majority of us don't trust you. Yet."

"Hey, stop that. You're scaring her," Len leapt to her defence immediately, noticing the look of panic on her face. "It's not as bad as Gumo says, really. But what he said about the surveillance…" he looked slightly uncomfortable about this, "that's true, actually. I trust you and I believe you're a good person – after all this has settled I really want to get to know you better and spend time with you like a normal guy, because you seem nice and funny and I think you deserve to have a normal date," he smiled. "But everyone else is really paranoid and suspicious – I mean, our industry does call for paranoia – and I guess most people aren't going to trust you completely until you prove yourself. Until then, Rin will be monitoring you constantly. But she's super discreet! You won't even know that she's there, promise," Len told her sincerely. Rin just nodded, her gaze carefully neutral.

Obviously Miku wasn't too happy about the idea of being watched all the time, but their logic made sense. She guessed that if she belonged to a top-secret organisation, she would be really wary of any new strangers who came in as well. "Okay, I understand. And of course I won't tell anyone. I don't want to be bumped off or anything," she shuddered, eyeing Len as she spoke those words. Len just chuckled and shook his head, looking amused. Well, she didn't know what he found so funny.

"Okay, I'm glad we all got that clear then," Gumo answered quietly, looking away from her. "I don't know what impression you have of us or our boss, since you knew him in a different context. But the man I work for is cold and ruthless, and he's not above asking us to check up on and eliminate _any_ potential competition in the underworld. Of course, he can't just go around bumping off people in polite society, but the world we live in…doesn't play by the same rules as what you are accustomed to," he said this with an air of indifference. Miku glanced at Len, and saw that Len wasn't smiling.

"But Paris – isn't that, um, _not_ part of the underworld?" Miku squeaked, the nasty implications of her errand really sinking into her head now. Talk of 'polite society' and the 'underworld' made her realise that there was probably a whole underbelly of society that, until this point, she had not been aware of – and the boy she knew from her university days evidently had business in both worlds. "And if he can't just target people who don't belong there, then…how is Len going to do his job?"

"The man he wants to bump off is the adopted second son of one of the Italian Mafia dons. I won't mention which specific Mafia it is because the less you know, the better – so let's just say that our boss will not be acting in the capacity of polite society. It might cause a bit of an uproar in the news, but the police won't be able to find any leads on who the assassin is. Any problems this might cause will be settled in the underworld, out of public eye. You shouldn't ask any more questions about this man, since you're going on the assignment," Gumo cautioned. Miku nodded, starting to wonder about the man she knew as Utatane Piko. Come to think of it, she didn't actually know that much about him.

He never shared much about his personal life with her while they were dating. She knew he had four sports cars, he lived in a really big mansion not too far away from their campus in the past – she had gone once, since Piko refused to make use of on-campus accommodation – and he was the son of an extremely wealthy businessman. But she never found out what company his family owned and he never shared much about his life before coming to university, always vaguely saying that it was all in the past and he didn't have a very happy childhood. Then in their second year, he just…disappeared.

"How about Piko? Who is he, really?" she asked slowly, looking at all three of them in turn. Gumo and Rin exchanged a look, the first time they actually properly interacted with each other ever since they entered the café. Len was still not smiling, and she thought that he didn't seem very pleased with where their conversation was going. But she wanted to find out as much as she was allowed to know, since she was involved in all this shady business now. She didn't want to just go in blind!

"Our boss is more dangerous than he might trick you into believing, so let's just leave it at that," Rin answered crisply, breaking the tense silence. "All this time you must have seen him only in the public eye. He is very different…when he's serious about his work. He still does very stupid things and he doesn't listen to my advice, but any man who would hire Len is a man to be wary of."

Miku didn't need Rin to tell her that, she had figured that much out by herself. She was prepared to risk her ego and probe even more, since Utatane Piko seemed like he was _anything_ but serious – but Len interjected, placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped in her seat, whipping around to look at him. "Hey, we came out here to eat and have a good time, right?" Len asked, giving her a sheepish smile. "So let's just enjoy our dessert. You can ask all the questions you want some other time, when we're back in our office or something. It's not really easy to talk about all this in public," he stressed, and he just seemed so uncharacteristically solemn about the matter that she decided to keep quiet about Piko's background. She could wait until they were underground again before she asked more.

"All right. But his motives for assigning you to this job seem pretty shallow, actually. Just because he got dissed by someone at a conference?" Miku scratched her neck, stirring her cappuccino. Len had drunk quite a bit of her coffee. "It just seems like a really stupid reason to, well…make Len work."

Gumo snorted. "Oh, he only said that because you were there at the office and he wasn't sure how much he could trust you yet. We all know there's a bigger reason why he wants this job done, and honestly Piko couldn't care less about it. His father is the one who's more interested in seeing this through. Piko is just an underboss," Gumo explained, "his father is the one who really controls everything that goes on, in both their company and in ours. You'll find out the real reason in due time, but Piko really isn't very interested in this particular task. He wanted Len for another job actually, but his father's words definitely take precedence over his own desires," he shrugged.

"Because he's a selfish, selfish little man," Len muttered beside her, making her crack a smile. "Okay, really – enough with the gloomy talk, let's just finish our desserts and then we can adjourn and meet another day, all right?" there was a surprising ring of finality in Len's words, so no one tried to say anything more about the job and the chat soon drifted to more stories about Gumo cross-dressing. Despite the fact that she was with three of the most dangerous people she had ever encountered, Miku found that she was really enjoying herself. For once, she didn't find herself thinking about money or finding a boyfriend or worrying about her family. For once, she could just be herself.

* * *

"Where are you staying now?" Rin asked, wondering about her brother. Gumo had dropped Miku off at her apartment after they were done with their dessert, and Len walked the girl up to her unit when they reached the building. Gumo and Rin waited for him in the car, and when he came back he looked uncharacteristically despondent. Len, who was now sitting in the backseat, let out a sigh.

"Pyre Leaf Inn," he answered. Rin recognised the name of the place – it was a slightly run-down, shady place generally meant as a stopover point for passengers in transit. It was cheap and located downtown, and the business owner generally turned a blind eye to the comings and goings of the underworld here. Pyre Leaf Inn was a haven for brave businessmen who needed a place to rest while in transit, and for gang members and criminals who needed a place to sleep and recover out of public sight. "I have an arrangement with the owner. Two weeks there, and then I'll be up and away again."

"I don't understand why you don't want to just come and live with me," Rin sighed as well, getting frustrated with her brother's stubbornness on this issue. Her house had top-notch security and the police never suspected there was anything wrong with a small, harmless-looking girl like her. As long as Len kept the blinds down, there should never be any risk at all of him being caught. But he just shook his head, resolute as ever. Why would he choose to drift from place to place, never having the chance to fully settle and rest when her house was always open to him? It just didn't make sense.

"Rin, I don't want you to get into trouble. You don't have a track record since no one has caught you yet, but if police ever busted your house you'd probably get jail time for hacking into organisational websites, and you know that," he explained. It was the same old argument, and frankly Rin was tired of listening to the same thing over and over again. She really just wanted to properly care for Len – in the past, she wouldn't have bothered, but then he disappeared off even her radar for two years when they were twenty years old and for a while, she thought he had died on a mission. When he finally came back, she had cried because of how angry and relieved she was. Len was now careful never to go anywhere without informing her first and allowing her to track him. It was her own way of ensuring that her kid brother would be safe. She hated his job sometimes, but it was all he knew.

"I already said before, the police don't come to bother me. And most of the lower-ranking officers don't even _know_ you're a wanted man. As long as you keep out of sight and don't do anything too stupid, you're definitely safe! And you can escape into the headquarters from my house if you needed to as well," she argued. Gumo, who was driving, just listened quietly to the twins' quarrel. He had heard this conversation before a few times, but Rin never knew who Gumo really sided with.

"Rin…you know I can't get you into trouble. I don't even want to risk it," Len told her softly. "And it's worse now that Miku's involved. At least you have experience in this field and with evading the cops. She doesn't know anything. I don't know, I'm starting to worry that maybe I did something stupid by involving her in my work, but…" his voice quietened even further. "I just need to continue showing her that I'm happy and that everything is normal, but Sicario has been after me for a while already and Boss is already at his wits' end. Sicario is what I'm afraid of, Rin. Not the cops. And Sicario is the one who will have no qualms whatsoever about shooting you from outside your house, you know."

"Sicario doesn't know you're here," Rin answered flatly. "I know because I hacked into their network a few days ago and their trail on you has gone cold. You're safe here, and as long as you keep your head down they shouldn't be able to find you again. You don't need to be so worried about them –"

"Yeah, I'm safe for now. Then what about Paris?" Len interrupted. "After I get sent to Paris…I have to attend events and conferences, and I have to be there for what, two weeks? It's a high-profile task, Rin. Boss didn't _want_ to send me there but his old man insisted so I don't have a choice. Sicario is bound to find me there. And Miku is going to get involved. I can't believe we had to hide that from her. She only said okay to this job because she doesn't know how dangerous it'll really be," he muttered, sinking deeper into the seat and looking out of the window. It was evening, and the setting sun bathed everything in a rosy pink glow. Len looked sullen, and for once, Rin didn't know what to say.

"You can't defy the old man. Our boss's words, in comparison to his, weigh little," Gumo spoke up in the driver's seat, throwing in his two cents. "But think about it. If you succeed in Paris and you don't get caught – in fact, if Sicario comes for you and you managed to kill them off too – you won't ever need to worry about Miku or your job ever again. You were promised that this is your last mission, right? After that, you're free to do whatever you want. Isn't that why this is so important to you?"

"Important to me, but the boss doesn't want me to succeed because he doesn't want me off his payroll," Len grumbled. "The old man interfered with my contract. By right I'm supposed to serve Boss for another year, but…well. Obviously I want to get out of this shitty job. I want to try and live a normal life – or, failing that, at least I want to be paid adequately for my efforts. Sure, it sounds like I make a lot of money, but if you take into account the costs of being on the run and throw in the fact that I don't get a lot of jobs in a year, it's actually very little," Len tugged on his ponytail. "I just want to get out of here," he repeated, "and hopefully Miku won't get involved with the underworld too because of this. It'd be my fault if that happened," he groaned. Rin couldn't even being to imagine what her twin had to be feeling. Len was the one who had saved her from years of persecution…

"If you complete Paris I'll help you make a new ID, and one for Miku too if she wants. Then you can get out of this country and away from Sicario. I'll stall them," Rin offered. "The money that you'll be given as a result of Paris should be enough to help you settle elsewhere for a while. I'll see what I can do about your criminal record – but honestly at this point, Sicario is the biggest issue. If you can evade them, you can evade just about anybody," she turned back to look at her brother again. Len was still gazing out of the window, the scenery reflected in his blue eyes. He looked contemplative.

"You can do anything you want for me," he said dully, "I'm just concerned for Miku. She looks so happy and oblivious about what's going to happen in a month's time. She really thinks it's just going to be like a holiday, and I want to keep that impression up because she's an innocent. I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to save her after Sicario sees her with me. They're going to try and use her as bait," he ran his fingers through his fringe, pushing it away from his eyes. "I guess I'm just concerned about that. Nothing more I can do besides perfect my craft and finish this task as soon as possible, I suppose," he concluded. "This really isn't going to be an easy job. I'm not excited."

"Yeah, you're not," Rin agreed. The car fell silent for a while. Then she made her decision. "Len, I'm coming with you for this one. I'll let Boss know later, but I can't just leave you to face Sicario alone. I can be a decoy too, since we resemble enough – I can wear insoles or something to hide the height difference. You know it'll be useful if I come," she added, already knowing that he would protest.

"It's _dangerous_ , Rin. It's bad enough that I'll have to look out for Miku – don't make me worry about you too," he tore his gaze away from the window and met her eyes straight on. But she stared him down relentlessly, and eventually he caved in to the sheer force of her will. "If you insist…I know if I disagree you're just going to tag along anyway," Len kneaded his forehead, groaning. Then he met her gaze once more, blue eyes softening. "Thank you though. That offer…really meant a lot to me."

"I'll feed you information about Sicario's presence when I can," Gumo added, making the final turn down the road. The Pyre Leaf Inn was coming into view. "My sister is still part of that organisation, so if she tells me anything about their presence in Paris I'll let you know," the car slowly came to a stop. "Good luck with evading them, Len. And be careful of the cops too. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Gumo," Len said quietly. He got out of the car, heading into the inn, and Gumo brought the car into reverse, heading out of the shady neighbourhood. Rin watched her brother walking until she could see him no more. A sense of foreboding filled her – would this month be the last time she saw her brother safe? Sicario was the group responsible for Len's disappearance four years ago. She was going to Paris with Len to make sure that, no matter what, he wouldn't fall into their clutches again.


	5. Chapter 5

"…Yes, Papa," his footsteps echoed through the room, the high ceiling amplifying every individual sound. Utatane Piko came to a stop before the man seated behind his desk, keeping his gaze fixed onto the ground. "I have done what you told me to do. The assassin departs for Paris in a month's time."

"That's good," his father answered idly, and Piko chanced a glance at the man. His father wasn't looking at him – instead, he was looking out of the window, a wistful look on his face. "I trust that your little secret weapon should be able to get rid of the Venetian scum. You told him that after this, he will be released from your service, yes?" Piko gritted his teeth at the reminder, but nodded regardless. His father chuckled. "Then that's good too. If he needs a new identity and passport, assist him with its creation as well."

"Papa, I still think you should have sent the _soldato_ instead. The assassin is wanted by the Sicario filth. He is clearly not the best person to send for such a dangerous mission. The Venetians are prepared and they will not let their _consigliere_ out of sight," Piko tried to dissuade his father to no avail. He already knew it was pointless – once his old man made up his mind about something, it was practically impossible to change his thinking. But he couldn't just allow Kagamine Len to walk away from his service like that. He still had an entire year left to his contract, and his father just changed that…

"It is _precisely_ because the Venetians are prepared that we cannot send the _soldato_ ," his father snapped. "Do you think that they will not recognise our men? Your assassin is a wild card. He is quick and swift and he has impeccable aim. Kagamine Len has never once failed a mission. He will be a far better option than an entire unit of _soldato_. Or are you trying to question my authority now, Piko?"

His father's voice carried a hint of warning now. Piko hastily backed down, knowing better than to press on with his argument. He inclined his head, unhappy but obedient. "I understand, Papa. I will tell the assassin to speed up with his preparations so that the operation will be smooth," he turned to walk away from the office, but before he could go very far his father called for him again. He turned.

"I trust you have told him not to invoke our name in Paris at all? I do not want further retaliation from the Venetian dogs. Of course it is likely they will suspect our _famiglia_ , but unless they have concrete evidence they will not act. Besides, Paris does not belong to either one of us," his father sighed. "In the off chance they do capture your assassin, tell him to find a way out himself. We will not be stepping in to save him," his father cautioned. Piko sighed and nodded – he already knew.

"He will not fail," he said flatly. Kagamine Len had built up a reputation for stealth and murder, and he didn't achieve that overnight. If there was one person in the world Piko would trust to finish a job, it would be his assassin. He would have liked to recruit him into their _famiglia_ , but Len had refused…something about the level of commitment, which Piko actually understood. He thought that personally, if he hadn't been born into this life, he wouldn't have chosen to go down this route. It was a path as dirty, or perhaps even dirtier, than that of an assassin's. "And even if he does, he has more to worry about than just the Venetians. What they will do to him is nothing compared to what Sicario has already done."

"I am aware of that," his father said shortly. "Anyway, I have nothing else to say to you. You are dismissed – and send your brother in, will you? I'm sure you ran into him outside," his father started shuffling some papers on his desk. Piko had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the mention of his half-sibling – his father knew perfectly well that the two of them couldn't stand each other, yet he absolutely insisted on forcing them together whenever the opportunity arose. His father was a sadistic man, and that showed itself in more ways than one.

"Very well. I will see you later then, Papa," Piko left the room, taking in a deep breath and stepping out onto the main landing. His father was in his house again, making use of his study. The man was prone to springing surprise visits on him, and Piko could honestly say that he never really enjoyed them. In fact, his life would be much better if only his father would just remain quietly in Sicily. But no, of course he had to come and bother his _favourite_ son…Piko didn't know why he was the favoured heir, but at times he wished he didn't have anything to do with their criminal activities. He had actually been pretty happy with his relatively peaceful life alone before his father crashed his second year of university and forced him to withdraw from his education. And then he found out about the new _caporegime_.

He looked around for his half-brother, whom Piko had passed by on the way up to his study. His brother, called Piko as well, couldn't stand him. However, he could actually understand why he felt that way so he never kicked up any fuss about the way his brother treated him. What Piko wanted to tell him was that no matter what he did, their father wouldn't change their rankings. He would remain the underboss while his brother would stay as a _capo_. But his stupid brother didn't seem willing to acknowledge this fact, always eager to do everything he could to prove himself to their father. He actually pitied his half-sibling.

"Kurotane," Piko called when he spotted the familiar head of black hair. The person in question looked up, red eyes narrowing at the sight of him. He and his half-brother resembled each other so much that there was never any question whether or not they were related. But their appearance was a sore reminder of why he was the chosen one, why Utatane Piko was the favoured _capo bastone_ while Kurotane Piko was a mere _caporegime_. He shared the same silver hair and cold, rational demeanour as his father, and both of them even had a similar taste in women. His half-brother, on the other hand, had his mother's black hair and their father's crimson eyes, and his personality was so different from Piko's that whenever they talked about anything, they would no doubt end up in an argument over who was right. If Utatane Piko was like day, then Kurotane Piko had to be night.

"What do you want, Utatane?" he sneered, those red eyes practically glowing. They were the most intimidating feature his half-brother had. Piko knew that in terms of skill with a gun he was far better. But that knowledge wasn't very reassuring when Kurotane was standing there with his arms folded across his chest, glaring fiercely at him. He sighed and cleared his throat – well, better to get this over and done with.

"Papa is looking for you," he kept his tone as neutral as possible. Kurotane was, in Piko's opinion, mentally unstable and just a simple shift in voice could set him off. "I don't know why, so don't ask me. He's in my study right now," he looked up the stairs towards the next floor, where the study room was. He really liked working in there, and he couldn't wait for his father to leave the country again. It was very strange when the man decided to pay him a visit since most of the time he was so busy with his own affairs. To be honest, they didn't have a very close father-son relationship. Whenever they talked, it was always about business. The only parental affection he ever received was from his maternal side, and he remembered that in his youth, he had been almost afraid of his father.

"Maybe he finally decided to let me replace you as _capo bastone_ ," Kurotane smirked. Again, Piko resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Even if that really was the case, he didn't care. It would be a blessing to be stripped of his responsibilities, actually. But he knew that he would never be removed from this position. He knew too much incriminating information about his father, and Kurotane simply lacked the patience needed to be the underboss. He shuddered just thinking about it – his half-brother would probably get them into turf wars with other _famiglie_ every other week…no, for his father's sake and for his own mental health, he could never leave his position. "Why, are you afraid?" Kurotane asked gleefully, clearly having noticed Piko shivering. Piko shook his head, narrowing his eyes.

"Think whatever you want. Just hurry up and go, you know he doesn't like to be kept waiting," he answered sharply. His half-brother rolled his eyes and gave him one last sneer before he brushed past Piko up the stairs, taking care to knock into his shoulder on the way. He staggered slightly but didn't bother to say anything, knowing that Kurotane would just take sadistic pleasure in getting a reaction out of him. He sighed, shaking his head and placing two fingers against his temples. He could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on, but he couldn't rest yet. He had work to do.

He went down the rest of the stairs towards the front door of his mansion, intending to step out and get a breath of fresh air. He had been cooped up in his office all morning looking through paperwork for their company. The board of directors had been kicking up a huge fuss over the latest proposal to cooperate with Lincon Tech, claiming that it would be a bad decision to work with their rival…well, Piko had given much thought to this proposal before providing his stamp of approval, so he didn't appreciate the shareholders complaining so much. He didn't intend to _work_ with Lincon. He wanted to buy over all their shares and absorb them into the company. Utatane Piko did not like to work with other people – he hired them, but he never saw them as equals. He couldn't, not with his position in the _famiglia_. Power equated to loneliness, and while his father had long gotten used to it, Piko still had not.

Which was why those two years in university, apart from his family, had been happy days for him. For a while, he had been free to pretend that he was someone normal. He even got a steady girlfriend back then – despite his outwardly womanising ways, he actually was very fond of Miku and had wanted to pursue a long-term relationship with her. But circumstances changed, and before long he found himself sucked back into the dark world of their _famiglia_. He left university because he couldn't stay and get Miku involved in his past. As Utatane Piko, he was nothing but the billionaire son of a wealthy businessman. But as the _capo bastone_ of their family, he was a powerful man many wanted to target. She wouldn't be safe with him.

It was funny running into her again – it felt like a bit of his past had come back to him, a refreshing break from the harsh reality that was his life now. But his assassin had taken a shine to her, which was equally strange. Piko didn't know how he felt about this situation, since even now he was still rather attracted to her. After all, he didn't break up with her back then simply because she didn't want to sleep with him – of course his feelings for her had run deeper than that. He should have left her a note or something, but he didn't want her to look for him. It would be best if she wasn't involved in his life…yet here she was, accompanying Len to Paris within a month. He sighed. Fate was a funny, cruel thing. He hoped that his father wouldn't try to get her to join the _famiglia_ …

His phone began to buzz in his pocket. Reflexively he reached towards it, accepting the call without even checking the screen. "Utatane Piko here," he looked towards the front door, wondering if he should make another trip back to the office or just wander around outside for a while. He had so much work to do. He saw to the daily affairs of both their legitimate and illegitimate businesses, and it could be tiring at times. But being the underboss meant that leisure was a rare luxury, _especially_ now with all the fuss about the Venetians. He just wanted to crawl into bed and take a nap, but if he spent even just five minutes away from the conflict the entire _famiglia_ might get into trouble.

"Boss, there's a problem in the office," the voice of the company chairman was filled with panic. "The shareholders are kicking up a fuss again, so the board of directors summoned another meeting…we need you in the headquarters right now," he stressed. Piko closed his eyes and sighed, kneading his forehead. Damn these investors and their jittery nerves. Hadn't he spent enough time calming them down last week? He had better things to think about than this stupid merger. He knew what the hell he was doing – he had been born to helm the company, and he knew the internal affairs better than anyone else there. Unlike his public persona, Utatane Piko was very conscientious about his work.

"I'll be right over," he said shortly, hanging up before the chairman could get another word in. "All so useless," he muttered, slipping the phone back into his pocket. "What am I paying you for? Crying to me the moment there's any sign of trouble…for God's sake, you're twice my age!" he seethed. He forced himself to take in a deep breath and calm down – at this point, getting angry wouldn't help anyone. He might as well go back to the office, then head underground to see how operations were going there. It had been a while since he last checked, and his father would expect a report soon.

Honestly, his father was little more than a figurehead at this point, though his words still carried a lot of weight. Even the _famiglia_ referred to Piko as the boss now, with his half-brother being the single exception to that. Of course, to his father's face they still addressed him as the _don_ , but everyone knew that it was Piko who oversaw every detail of their daily life. His father…Piko didn't even know what he was doing most of the time. He kept himself out of the spotlight and entrusted even his company to Piko's capable hands, remaining the President only in name. He, the CEO, had more power and authority than his father did. Piko got the feeling that his father was slowly easing him into life as the next leader, and that worried him on some level. Did his old man intend to…just leave, one day?

Well, that was something he could think about when he was less busy. He had to get going before he was late to the meeting. It wouldn't reflect well on the company leader and the shareholders were restless enough without him adding on to their negative impressions. "Another day in the life of a businessman's son," he murmured to himself, a bitter smile curving his lips. Once he stepped out of the mansion doors, he would be back to his usual charismatic self. All these dark thoughts would be sealed deep in his mind, only for himself to hear. He would not let anyone else see this side of him.

* * *

"So how was the date?" Luka asked excitedly the moment she got back into the apartment. Miku glanced at her friend and sighed, wondering where to even begin. Of course she knew that she couldn't reveal most of what she found out today but she could at least say a few things, right?

Luka wasn't around when Miku got home, so Miku assumed she had gone to work an afternoon shift at the café which employed her. Luka was a barista and she was excellent at it too. It was now close to midnight, and Miku had actually toyed with the idea of going to sleep before Luka returned – but she knew that Luka would just wake her up to find out more about her day, so she might as well just stay awake until then. "It went pretty well I guess?" the lilt in her voice made her sound uncertain, and Luka picked up on that, raising one eyebrow at her. "Really!" she hastened to say, not wanting her best friend to think she was lying or something. It really had been quite enjoyable, though not in the way she would have expected. Luka eyed her suspiciously.

"Hmm. Had a nice meal then?" she asked, setting down her bag and stretching like a cat. Miku was resting on her bed in her pyjamas, her head leaning against the bedpost as she watched her friend go about her nightly routine. Luka quickly started to change out of her barista uniform, searching through her wardrobe for a comfortable shirt. "Any plans for date number two?" she added, and Miku could hear the smile in her words although her friend was facing away from her. Miku wasn't sure if bringing her along to Paris to assassinate someone would be considered an actual date, but she said yes and Luka cheered for her, shimmying into her shirt as she did so. "Nice! When? Where?"

"I don't know yet, we just made plans," Miku yawned, exhausted. She would have to work the afternoon shift tomorrow at Mancy's, and she wasn't looking forward to that. _You need the money_ , she reminded herself. "So how was work today?" she changed the topic, hoping that Luka wouldn't continue to ask about her date with Len. She really hated having to hide anything from her best friend, but she was pretty sure she would get into trouble if she let slip anything about her task. She would eventually tell Luka that she was going to Paris, but not so soon…maybe the week before she actually got on the flight or something. Luka would definitely suspect something if she found out Len invited her to Paris right after their first date. Anyone would think that it was suspicious.

"Same old," Luka said carelessly, now wriggling out of her tight black pants. "This whole group of stupid prats came in today and tried to hit on Yukari and I at work. But we quickly put them in their place," she added proudly, tossing her pants into the wardrobe and pulling on a loose pair of cotton shorts. "Man, I love getting out of my work uniform at the end of a long day," she declared, stretching again. "Those pants are so tight that sometimes I think I lose blood circulation in my legs!" she shut the wardrobe door, flopping onto her own bed. "You're working tomorrow, right? I feel like it's been a while since the two of us just hung out together. We're always working," she sighed wistfully.

"Yeah," Miku agreed, still resting her head against the bedpost. Her eyes were beginning to close. It was the end of a long day for her but she wanted to finish talking to Luka. Like what her best friend said, it really had been a while since the two of them had a long, proper conversation with each other. They were always so busy, and their schedules just never seemed to let them hang out even though they were roommates. "Well, we need to pay the rent, don't we? And I still need to save money for Mikuo," she scratched her head. "It's kind of worrying me, actually. He's working now since he's on summer break, but after that break he'll have to go into college…I don't know if I have enough for him," she fretted. "I got a bonus this month but it's not really that much, if you take into account our daily expenses. But I don't want to borrow from our aunt and uncle again. They aren't that well-off either."

Luka looked at her sympathetically. "You have enough for a few months more, right? And didn't your brother get a scholarship? He'll get by. We got by without a scholarship, and you're sending him money every month to boot. He'll do a good job, he's such a smart boy," Luka giggled. Luka quite liked Mikuo – they had met a few times, and Luka always said he was so diligent and charming that he would have zero problems finding a girlfriend. Unlike her, who never stuck with a guy for very long. Guys seemed to have it easier when it came to finding relationships…but maybe her situation would change now. Len just gave her a sense of security, somehow. Even though he was a wanted man, he didn't seem like he would change his mind about her. She hoped she wasn't wrong.

"You're right," she smiled, sinking down into the mattress and placing her head on the pillow. Luka looked like she wanted to turn in for the night too, getting up from the bed and heading out of the room – she was probably going to the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth. Miku was struck by the sudden impulse to say something, _anything_. "I ran into Piko today," she called out as Luka opened the door. Luka froze, her head swivelling around to face Miku. Her blue eyes were wide.

"Utatane Piko?" Luka said slowly. "The billionaire playboy who left university in our second year? I thought he died or something, he disappeared completely…didn't you say he left his mansion?" she asked. Now that Luka brought it up...yeah, Piko had left his mansion. She went looking for him at his place when he didn't come to school for three days and failed to pick up the phone or respond to her messages, and the mansion seemed to be completely deserted. It was as if the silver haired boy had never existed. "Where did you see him? When did he even come back?" Luka frowned.

"I don't know either. I just ran into him today," Miku lied, not wanting to say anything about his company. To tell the truth she actually still didn't know what company Piko ran. She should have asked the others but it slipped her mind, and she didn't check the building when Gumo drove them away either. She would ask about it the next time she saw Len or Rin. "Like on the street with Len. We chatted a little, but he was in a rush so I didn't get to ask him much. But I did get my rightful two hundred dollars!" she added triumphantly. Luka blinked, obviously confused, but then she recalled the bet they made ages ago and laughed along with Miku, her silvery voice floating through the air.

"I'm happy for you! You totally deserve it, you were really sick the next day but after you two made that bet he just kept avoiding you, right? Then you broke up with him, and a week later he was gone. It's really so strange," Luka frowned, "but I guess billionaires are just eccentric like that. What's he doing, running daddy's business now? I never knew what his family did, come to think of it…"

"Yeah, he's running the company I think. But I didn't get to ask where he worked," Miku shrugged. "I don't think that's important anyway. He's not a part of my life anymore. I'm just glad he finally paid up what he owed me after all these years," she yawned again, suddenly really exhausted. It had been such a long day today. After Len walked her up to her apartment – she blushed, remembering the little goodbye peck on the cheek he gave her – she just sat on her bed restlessly, thinking over the events of the day. On one hand, it was still so surreal, but she also accepted that these people were her reality now. Was she worried? She certainly was. But she trusted that Len would take good care of her.

Fifty thousand dollars. So much money. It would be enough to cover all her expenses for an entire year, even including Mikuo's allowance. She was still afraid to believe that it was real – she didn't even know if she wanted it to be real or not – but if she woke up tomorrow morning and she still remembered Len and the others, then it probably meant it wasn't a dream. She just had to get Paris over and done with, and they all promised her she wouldn't have to actually do much, she just had to draw suspicion away from Len. She was nervous though, because fifty thousand dollars seemed like a lot for such a simple task. What if it actually turned out that she'd have to do more?

"I don't know how to feel about you running into Piko again, actually," Luka's voice caught her attention and Miku looked up at her friend. Luka had one hand on the doorknob, but she was clearly thinking about something. "You know I was never super fond of him or anything. It wasn't even the way he behaved…I mean he had a bad reputation for being flirtatious but he never cheated on you. Yet I can't help but feel like there's something more to Utatane Piko, you know? Towards the end of your relationship he got so cold, and he just completely disappeared after that, no note or anything. Don't you think that he's really suspicious? I'd really like to find out what his family is involved in."

Miku shrugged. "Yeah, I'm interested too but it's also too much bother to dig around for information about a guy we're not going to run into again," at least Luka wouldn't. Miku probably still had to deal with him given that she was sort of in his employment for the time being. Gumo's admission that Piko had lied about his reason for sending an assassin to Paris came to mind, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out more about that or not. The less she knew, the better, right? Everyone was saying that. Even she believed that herself – she didn't want to get mixed up in all this nasty business. She was just a normal girl who wanted to make ends meet, that's all. She wasn't like Gumo or Rin or Len…

Luka snorted. "I hope you don't run into him on the streets again then. Stay away from that area," she opened the door, stepping out. "I'm going to wash up and go to bed right after that, and I bet you're really tired after spending so much time outside so you should get some rest too. Good night!" she flipped the light switch, throwing the room into darkness before she silently closed the door behind her. Miku lay flat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling – she could just barely make out the white walls of the room. Her eyelids felt heavy, but her mind was working on overdrive.

What was Len doing now? Was he winding down for the night too, or was he outside completing his assassin duties, whatever they were? She was morbidly curious about what Len was like at work. She knew he killed people, and unlike his usual self he was apparently very serious while working. She would like to see, just once, what Len looked like when he murdered another person. The curiosity and desire shocked herself too and she tried not to think about it, turning over in bed and throwing her blanket over her head, willing herself to sleep. But she still couldn't help thinking about Len.

Meanwhile, Len was out and about. His boss had told him to get rid of someone really fast, one of the few drug dealers in town who weren't playing by their rules. It was Piko's job to get rid of those who defied their laws, and Len was the quiet enforcer who saw that those who broke these rules were punished. Of course, he could always send out his own soldiers, but Len was faster, quieter and much more efficient. It wasn't a turf war anyway, just some random idiot who thought he could hide from Utatane forever. Len snorted. The vermin here should really know better than that by now.

Len had been tailing the guy for a while. It was three in the morning so there weren't a lot of people outside, which was good. The fewer people saw him, the better. He leapt deftly from roof to roof, following the target and always ducking out of sight whenever the dealer looked around for signs of a stalker. He was a suspicious, paranoid man, and he ought to be. After all, he was the idiot who chose to stay here despite breaking all the _famiglia_ laws. Even the underworld had its own set of laws to follow, and to peddle drugs outside of one's designated area was strictly forbidden. On top of that the man hadn't been paying his taxes, which was already sufficient reason to shoot him dead.

He just wasn't sure whether he ought to get up close and personal with this guy or just take the easy shot from here. He could get rid of him right now if he wanted to – his sniper rifle and magnum scope were slung behind his back, but he also had a pistol hidden in his coat which he could use if he got closer. Len didn't particularly relish the idea of killing again because he was so tired of murdering people, but at least he wasn't killing a good man. That was one reason why he worked for Piko. None of the people he was sent to assassinate were _good_ per se. Yet if he just took the easy shot…it would be kind of boring too. He didn't wake up at two and follow this guy for an hour just to snipe at him.

In all honesty Len was still mildly confused about his own allegiances. On one hand, he knew that he did not want to kill. He was never really interested in being an assassin, but he was trained from young to be one and it was all he knew. He was no longer sensitive to dead bodies and the rusty smell of blood. The reason why he wanted to stop wasn't so much because of his conscience, but rather because he was sick of being a puppet. He was always working for someone, always sent to destroy someone's life, someone's family. He didn't want to just destroy without purpose. He wanted to settle down too! Although being wanted by international bodies made that difficult.

Gracefully, he leapt across the ledge of the roof towards the next building, thankful that this area was particularly clustered and all the buildings were close to each other. The man seemed like he was on the way to meet someone, which made Len curious enough to delay shooting him for a while. He would still end up dead by the end of the night, but it wouldn't hurt to find out what the dealer had to do so urgently. The drug dealer turned down a cobblestoned road and began weaving through the backstreet alleys, and Len had to follow closely so that he wouldn't end up losing the nervous man.

He knew these alleys well – in fact, he knew most of the city well. He had lived here for quite a bit after all, compared to other places he drifted through in the past. Besides, every criminal needed knowledge about good hiding spots, and he was no exception to that. Even so, it was difficult to keep track of the man because he kept squeezing himself through tight alleys and ducking under sheltered walkways whenever possible, forcing Len to occasionally track him on the ground instead of using an aerial view. At times like these, he really wished he had his sister's help, but since this was a last-minute mission he didn't bring his earpiece. Anyway, he'd bet Rin was asleep by now, so he didn't want to bother her. He was used to completing jobs by himself so this was no different.

Keeping close to the walls, he ran along the alleyway, knowing that the branch ahead forked out in two directions – one led out to the main street again, and the other to a small plaza between a brothel and a butcher. He had little doubt that the plaza was where the man was headed, so he relaxed a little and placed his hand on his sniper rifle, the comforting feel of cold metal grounding him in the present. Taking a deep breath, he turned into the next passageway, smiling slightly when he saw the small figure hurrying along at the other end. He was on the right track, and he would be able to see who this guy was meeting before he killed him. Luck was clearly on his side tonight.

It had been a while since he had fun like this. Usually his missions were a very touch-and-go affair, since Rin liked to nag in his ear about how he was wasting time dawdling around and that would just allow the police to catch up with him. It was strangely relieving to not have his sister yelling at him while on a job. Usually he had to devote half his attention to her and the other half to his target, but for once he was free to focus solely on the task at hand. He could take his time, he could relax and satisfy his own curiosity. It was nice to enjoy that kind of luxury. Len tried all ways and means to make his job less mundane, and talking to his victims before he killed them was one method.

If Miku saw him now, what would she think? The thought was sudden, and it made him pause for just half a second. But then he told himself that he wouldn't allow her to see him this way in Paris, and the moment passed. The man was entering the plaza now so Len sped up a little, careful to keep his footsteps light and quiet. His target hadn't been looking around for the past couple of minutes, perhaps finally convinced that there was no one tailing him. It was a stupid assumption to make – for Len, the urge to constantly check his surroundings had been drilled into him. If you didn't observe and watch for anomalies around you, even in a familiar environment, then you were pretty much dead. To him, nowhere was safe. It was another reason why he didn't want to live with his sister.

Much better that he lived on his own and didn't draw any attention to her. He preferred to change his location once every couple of weeks anyway. It made him feel safer, or at least as safe as one could feel when you were a fugitive on the run from everyone. He stopped right before he entered the plaza, carefully scaling up the wall and landing quietly on the flat rooftop of the building. Now he had a good view of the plaza. The man was waiting in the centre, pacing nervously. Yes, he definitely had to be waiting for someone…now Len just had to wait and see who this mysterious guest was.

It didn't take long. A few minutes later, the man spotted someone at the other side of the plaza and hurried forward to greet the person. To get a better view, Len prepared his sniper rifle and scope, using the scope to zoom in on what was going on. Looking through the scope, he could see the man talking earnestly, and he shifted the scope up slightly to observe the other party. When he finally focused on the image, his eyes widened in recognition. This wasn't something he had expected.

Well, it didn't matter. If this was the case then the dealer was useless, probably just a pawn. But he didn't want to jump to any conclusions so he waited, trying to understand the nature of this deal. The other party nodded and fumbled around in their coat, pulling out a packet of _something_ and passing it to the drug dealer. Len suspected that it was probably more drugs. This person was likely the dealer's supplier. A small smile curved his lips – well, it would be fun settling this problem later. But first of all, he had to get rid of the pawn. He undid the safety catch and aimed, his finger curled loosely around the trigger. He waited patiently for the man to stop fidgeting, not wanting to miss since that would cause some problems. The man finished keeping the packet away and turned back towards the other person, patting down his long overcoat. Then suddenly, he looked up at Len.

At the very same instant, Len pulled the trigger. There was a loud 'crack' and the man collapsed, a small bit of blood trickling from his forehead. The other person withdrew from the man, looking around wildly, but before they could flee the scene Len hopped down from the building, his sniper rifle slung over his back once more. "You really want to run after it started to get fun?" he called out, causing the other person to whirl around to face him. His smile widened. Maybe Piko had known about this before sending him out on the mission. He did seem to be rather excited when he told Len to trace down this man, which he had found odd at the time since the drug dealer wasn't anyone particularly special. But maybe Piko was excited about _this_ instead. That man was a mere sacrifice, a chess piece for the real mastermind to manipulate.

"Kagamine Len!" Furakawa Miki hissed, drawing her coat tightly around herself. Her vivid red hair tumbled in waves around her face, the normally vacant look she wore completely gone. Len had always thought she was just pretending to be a vapid bimbo. No one who was related to Mikio could possibly be that stupid. "I won't say it's a pleasure to see you. Must be fun, shooting someone in the middle of the night! I wonder why Piko even hired you," her voice was scathing. Len sighed and shook his head, playing along with her game. Len was not very fond of Miki, something even his sister was aware of. He only pretended to get along with the secretary because she was his boss's assistant, that's all.

"And we both know that the only reason why Piko keeps you around is because you're part of the _famiglia_ , and also because you keep throwing yourself at him. Do you think he's going to come and save you? He's been searching for the supplier for the rogue dealers for ages. Clearly," Len tilted his head towards her, "our mysterious supplier has been here all along. Were you behind the hijacked drug shipment last month?" Miki remained sullenly quiet, and Len grinned. "I thought so too. Well, guess that gives me all the more reason to do my job," he patted his sniper rifle again, almost lovingly.

Miki scoffed. "Like you'd kill me. I'm part of the _famiglia_!" she shouted, tossing her red hair over her shoulder. " _And_ I'm Piko's woman. You're nothing but a mere associate," she sneered, "and you have no worth to the _famiglia_ compared to me. I'm a _soldato_ , and I'm under protection. If you dare to lay a single finger on me, Piko will have you killed," she simpered. Len pretended to think about it, then slowly nodded, unslinging the rifle and dropping it to the ground in a show of surrender. Miki's eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "I'm glad you know your place, Lenny dear," she cooed. "Now why don't you run along and tell our dear boss that you've completed his little errand? I was here just to get more information about the rogue dealers too. Whatever you saw, you completely misinterpreted."

"I saw you passing him drugs to sell, and I don't think I misinterpreted that," Len answered bluntly, walking towards Miki. The woman didn't flinch, which did impress him somewhat. Things were definitely looking up. This was the best mission he had been sent on all year. "As for you being Piko's woman, don't make me laugh. It's only because you're cheap enough to throw yourself at him. Do you really think he cares about you?" he asked, still getting closer and closer to her. Miki was starting to look nervous. "Finally, as for you being under _famiglia_ protection…I don't deny that," he shrugged. "But that protection only exists within the _famiglia_. If I, as one of the _soldato_ , shoot you, another member, then I'd be in trouble…but as you rightfully pointed out," he beamed, "I'm not a member of the _famiglia_."

Miki rushed forward, a gun already in her hand – he was prepared for that, the family didn't pick their soldiers based only on looks, after all. She fired at him but he leapt to one side, avoiding the bullets, and continued running around while she tried to shoot him. Miki was a pretty bad shot, now that he noticed. Clearly spending all her time in Piko's office wasn't helping her combat abilities. Her gun made a clicking sound and she scowled, quickly changing the magazine, but before she could even lock it in place Len was behind her with his arm around her neck, tugging sharply backwards. Miki choked, dropping the gun in the process as she reflexively tried to claw at his arm, but Len just threw her down to the ground and stepped hard on her stomach, forcing her to stay in place.

Her red eyes glowed with hatred. "I know you have a knife hidden on you, and trust me when I say I know exactly where it is. You move even an inch and I'll shoot," Len said coldly, undoing the safety catch and pointing his pistol right at her. Miki began to laugh, a maniacal, desperate sort of laugh, and he waited for her to catch her breath before he stomped down on her stomach. That elicited a sharp wheeze from her and she fell silent, coughing hard. But still her eyes burned as she stared up at him. He wanted to just kill her already, but he needed some answers.

"Does it matter? You're going to kill me either way," she croaked. "Must have been easy for you, to take down a weak member of the _soldato_. Maybe you're right and I should have spent more time on the field instead of sitting on Piko's lap," she still had the energy to sneer at him. "It's actually kind of embarrassing that Lenny could unarm me so easily. I must have lost all my skill with a firearm…so I guess that means I'm useless to the _famiglia_ now," she laughed again, her voice becoming raspy.

"Why did you do it?" Len asked. He didn't have to explain what 'it' was. Miki tilted her head back, looking up at the stars overhead instead of at him. His hand never wavered. It wasn't the first time he would kill someone he knew personally, anyway. And it helped that he wasn't very fond of this woman.

"Why? For money, I suppose. I don't know. Why do we do _anything_ , really?" Miki answered. "I guess I was bored with being a secretary. But I didn't want to go onto the field to do dirty work either. So why not mess around with the rogues for a while? Not like anyone was going to suspect me, since I spend so much time with the boss…I just never thought _he_ would doubt me, of all people," she shook her head. "Well, Lenny? You must want to shoot me so badly. I always knew you didn't like me, but I faced you every day with that stupid nickname and a stupid smile on my face. You should have shot me then in the office," she mocked. "At least I would have died getting you into trouble…it would've been a nice outcome."

"Rin told Miku that I didn't like any woman in the company except for you. More accurately, I could tolerate everyone _except_ for you. You always got on my nerves, you bloody hag," Len moved his foot, crushing his foot into Miki's windpipe. The woman began to thrash, suffocating as he ground his boot into the soft skin. "But obviously I couldn't show my usual disdain in front of the girl I like. I guess that's the only thing I'm grateful for, the fact that you didn't expose my true nature to her."

He removed his foot. Miki was really coughing now, gagging as she tried to breathe. He kept his gun pointed at her as she retched, her hand closing around her neck. She glared at him through the tears that spilled from her eyes. "Maybe I should have. Then she would know that her sweet Kagamine Len isn't as funny and gentlemanly as she thought he was," she rasped. "Little Lenny boy, always fussed over by his older sister and every other woman in the company simply because you have such a pretty face. But your good looks sure are wasted on someone as filthy as _you_. I might be a traitor, but at least I'm not tainted like you are," she gloated. Len waited for her to finish laughing, biding his time.

"Are you quite done?" he asked when she quietened. She looked at him, her expression unreadable, and he just waited for her to say something, anything more. But she kept her lips pressed tightly together and simply nodded, waiting for his next move. He gave her an empty smile. "Well, it was nice having a chat with you outside the office, Miki. Great to hear you spitting to my face instead of being all sickly sweet when we both know that you can't stand me. Oh, and one more thing," his smile widened as he adjusted his grip on his gun, bringing it up towards her forehead. She watched him silently, not a single hint of fear in her expression. "I really wish you'd stop calling me Lenny."

And then he pulled the trigger.


	6. Chapter 6

Miku groaned, reaching out to the table beside her bed and trying to find her phone. Squinting, she felt around the table, wanting to turn off the source of the buzzing. Someone must be calling her.

Her fingers felt the familiar, smooth edge of her phone and picking it up, she rubbed her eyes and stared hard at the screen. It was an unknown number. She didn't know whether or not to answer the call – after everything which happened yesterday, the idea of just answering a stranger's call seemed rather…well, stupid. Maybe some law enforcer had spotted her with Len or something and they wanted to arrest her for spending time with an assassin?

No, she had to be overthinking this. She glanced up at the bed on the other side of the room and noticed it was empty – Luka must have left the apartment already. Shrugging, she accepted the call – what was the worst thing that could happen, anyway? "Hello?" she spoke, running her fingers through her tangled teal hair. One bad thing about having really long, thick hair was the nasty bedhead she got every morning. It was going to be a pain to comb out all the knots later. She briefly entertained the idea of chopping her hair short, but quickly decided against it. She would definitely end up regretting her decision.

"Hatsune Miku," a familiar voice spoke into her ear. She winced. It was Piko. She almost wanted to ask how he got her number, but then remembered that they used to be a couple so it wasn't that surprising that he had it – what was surprising was the fact that he actually _kept_ the number. Or he might have gotten it from Len or one of his hackers. By this point, everything seemed normal to her. "You sound like you just woke up…you know it's already almost noon, don't you?" he sounded like he was teasing her. She rolled her eyes and got up from the bed, stretching her stiff muscles.

"Yeah, you don't need to nag," she mumbled. "I'm awake now, aren't I? And work doesn't start till two anyway," she yawned. "But more importantly, why did you call me?" she was very sure that he didn't call just for the sake of listening to her voice. Piko cleared his throat, and even that little sound seemed reluctant. She perked up, realising that whatever he had to say was probably important. A busy man like Piko taking time out of his schedule to call her? "Hey?" she prompted when he continued to stay silent.

He sighed audibly. "I wanted to offer you a job," he said slowly. "And before you say no, hear me out. Of course it's nothing to do with sex," he was probably smirking now. Miku scowled, but waited for him to finish. "My secretary…has resigned from her position, and I'm in desperate need of someone to help me plan my meetings and organise my files. It's a mess up here. It was difficult enough to get through my workday with my usual useless secretary, but it's even worse now that I don't have one at all. I'm calling you because it was such a last minute decision, so please consider helping me out. Even just one day would be fine," there was a rising sense of urgency in his voice.

Miku blinked. "Why did Miki resign?" she asked. When she visited the office yesterday, the redhead looked perfectly happy with her job. In fact, the hickey on her neck was probably a sign that she was doing a lot of things besides secretarial work. Piko let out another sigh, this time sounding irritated. "Um, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I guess," she said hastily. Maybe it was because of a private matter rather than a business-related one…was she _pregnant_? How scandalous for Piko!

"Whatever you're thinking, just stop right now," Piko deadpanned. "I don't mind telling you. Miki had some urgent family issues to settle, so I don't think she'll be coming back to work here any time soon. I really need your help," he stressed. "I can't think of anyone else who could assist me with my work at this moment. I have a meeting in half an hour with people from Lincon Tech, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do after that because I'm too damn used to having a secretary micromanaging my schedule," he sounded so frustrated that she found it pretty funny, and she had to stifle a laugh.

"Well…I'd love to help, but I already have work at Mancy's," she explained. Poor Piko. He could ask other people anyway; she was sure that plenty of his employees in the underground office were more than qualified to manage his busy schedule. Miku herself wasn't too sure if she would be able to be Piko's assistant. She studied English Literature, not business administration or whatever a secretary was supposed to study in university. Piko was asking the wrong person. "Why don't you just ask one of your _other_ employees?" she wondered. Piko sighed yet again. It was the third time so far.

"They're all busy," he answered shortly. "I can't spare a single one of them. That's why I turned to you. Rin would never leave her house without a good reason, and she already came out yesterday so there's no way she'll agree to come to my office again today. I don't know if I'm the employer or she is…hold on for a moment," suddenly, his voice sounded very faraway and she heard something about 'Lincon' and 'shareholders'. Though she couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, she could hear how irritated he was. Piko didn't seem like he was having a very good day at work. "Sorry about that," Piko returned to the call. "Anyway, don't worry about Mancy's. If that really is the only concern you have, I can pull some strings. You won't get into trouble with your manager, trust me."

She hesitated. This just reminded her of how little she knew about Piko and the company he worked at. She did try to search for his father's business before, but he didn't tell her anything about his family, not even the industry they worked in. When she tried to do an online search for information regarding Utatane Piko, she came up with nothing. The only thing she found with regards to that name was his Facebook profile, but that was it. And Piko's Facebook account was virtually dead anyway – she had never seen him posting anything there. She tried to find out more about _wealthy_ people named Utatane Piko, but again the internet couldn't give her any information. It was really frustrating since someone so wealthy ought to be easily searchable on the internet, right? But Piko was completely different – it was as though someone was going through the web every night, purposely deleting all articles related to the young billionaire…and now, knowing that he had an entire army of hackers doing his bidding, she realised that it was entirely possible he was doing that.

"You can just try the job for one day and see whether or not you'll like it," Piko pushed a little when she continued to stay quiet. "I'm not asking you to do much since you won't have experience with what a secretary does. Believe me, if I had alternatives I would have gone to them," his voice was dry, "but at such short notice you're the only person I can trust. I don't want to have a stranger working for me because there are too many corporate secrets here that outsiders aren't privy to. You…aren't an outsider, not exactly anyway, so you're really all I have left," he sighed again. This was the fourth time in the span of this phone call. "Salary-wise, I'll be giving you two hundred dollars for today and if you stay on, you get eight thousand a month with opportunities for further salary increase. I hope that's enough to compensate for your job at Mancy's?" he sounded genuinely uncertain.

Miku just gaped at the wall opposite her. Eight thousand a month for a starting salary…and two hundred bucks just for working today? Mancy's paid her seven dollars per _hour_ , with the rest of her salary coming from commissions and bonuses. Piko's offer was incredibly tempting. If she stayed on for just this one month before going to Paris, she would earn fifty-eight grand! "Okay, sure. I'll come work for you today," she agreed, wondering if he was playing a trick on her but deciding it wouldn't hurt to check out the job anyway. "But how are you going to get me out of Mancy's? I mean, you can't just call the manager and tell him that I'm not working today, right?" she laughed awkwardly.

"You're right, I can't," Piko agreed, "but I can call the CEO. We met um, a while back…he's a work acquaintance of mine," he mirrored her awkward laugh. Miku just blinked. At this point, why was she even surprised? "I'll get the CEO to tell your outlet manager that from today onwards, you have resigned from Mancy's. Make yourself presentable, then take a cab down to 52 Hillview Avenue as soon as possible. Ask for the receipt so you can claim the cost back from Finance," Piko rattled off instructions as she rushed around her room, trying to find something work-appropriate. She was so used to wearing the Mancy's employee uniform that she didn't really bother getting other work clothes, which she was now regretting. Thank God she still had long sleeved, white collar blouses from her university presentation days. "I need to discuss something with my company president now, so remember the address I told you. 52 Hillview Avenue, I'm not going to say it a third time."

The line abruptly cut itself and she lowered her phone from her ear, the screen telling her that the call had disconnected. Letting out a sigh of her own, she hastily changed out of her pyjamas into a formal top and the first non-casual pair of black bottoms she saw, which was a tight knee-length pencil skirt. She eyed her reflection in the mirror, remembered she had yet to wash her face or brush her teeth and hurried out towards the bathroom. It would take a while more before she was ready to leave the house – she didn't want to dress sloppily and go, that would be rude. Miki looked really presentable yesterday, so Piko probably expected her to look something like her as well.

She hurried through her usual morning routine, drying her face and then applying very light makeup. Once she was done with that, she whipped her hair up into a bun, silently thanking Luka for getting her one of those 'Magic Bun' accessories which majorly shortened the time she needed to do her hair up properly. Then she went to the small kitchen, made a quick cup of coffee using instant coffee powder and water from their hot water dispenser, then left the cup in the sink and grabbed hold of her purse, which she had left on the couch on her way to the kitchen. It was a brand new record for her in terms of getting ready, and she was really proud of that. Piko had better be too!

52 Hillview Avenue…she knew the area; it was pretty near the central business district in town but it definitely wasn't anywhere near the office she visited yesterday. They didn't leave the building of course, after they visited Piko they went back to Rin's house through the underground passage and Gumo drove them to the café from there. But she did look out of the window at Piko's office and she noticed that there weren't a lot of other tall buildings in the area, meaning they hadn't been at Hillview. Did that mean Piko wasn't sending her to his headquarters, or did that mean the office she went to yesterday _wasn't_ actually his office? She was so confused, but she knew she would get the answer to this puzzle when she cabbed down and met Piko, so she nodded to herself and slipped her feet into a pair of black pumps. Using her phone, she called for a cab and went downstairs to wait.

* * *

Miku stared around in awe. Hillview Avenue was where most multinational companies made their headquarters, and the building at number 52 was one of the tallest ones around. She looked at the building, trying to find a sign showing what it was meant for, but there was nothing to indicate which company owned the place. She sighed. Well, if it really was that easy to find out where Piko worked, then a simple Internet search four years ago should have done the trick. She looked around for Piko.

He called her again on the way to her destination with further instructions. When she arrived at the location, she was to stay there until he came down himself to receive her. She was a little confused as to why the busy CEO – or whatever role Piko had in the company – was coming personally to pick her up, but she didn't question it since he sounded really busy. She felt a little self-conscious though, just standing here on the sidewalk waiting for Piko. She was the only one in the vicinity who wasn't rushing off to someplace else. Though she was dressed just like every other person outside, she couldn't help but feel _different_ , like she didn't belong here. She wasn't a business major; she wasn't a manager or executive officer or anything like that. She was just Hatsune Miku, a former sales assistant.

"I hope you weren't kept waiting for long," Piko's voice called out to her. She turned around and met his gaze – he was walking out from the building, adjusting his tie. Piko was dressed in an expensive looking light grey suit which complemented his silver hair and really brought out the uniqueness of his dual coloured eyes. She remembered that he always had an impeccable sense of dressing, even when in university – while other boys wore casual tees and Bermuda shorts around campus, you would never spot Piko out of a suit. That was honestly one reason why she had liked him back then.

"No, I wasn't," she clutched her purse tightly, gaze shifting back to the building from which he had emerged. It really was so tall – fifty stories, sixty? She couldn't even tell from this angle. "Is this your company headquarters?" she asked, wondering about why she was sent to this place. Piko shook his head, arriving at her side and reaching out to her hand – he raised her hand to his lips, giving it a quick kiss before she could pull away. His small smile turned into an outright smirk when she yanked her hand back, glaring at him. "You should stop hitting on me. We aren't together anymore, you know."

"I wasn't hitting on you, I was just being polite," he defended himself. "One should always greet a lady properly," he looked back at the building too. "And to answer your question, no it's not. Our regional headquarters are somewhere there," Piko waved his hand vaguely towards another street behind them. "I won't mention where exactly. Besides, you and I both won't be there most of the time. We have a few branch offices and, unlike most CEOs, I like to change the office I work in once every couple of days. In a way, I'm obligated to hop around. I need to check each location every week, then submit a report to my father regarding the performance of our branch offices. My job is a busy one," he sounded resigned. "People think that being rich solves all your problems, but in truth it doesn't, not really. All the money in the world couldn't buy your affections now, could it?"

"You just said you weren't hitting on me!" she protested, folding her arms across her chest. Maybe she should have reconsidered this job offer – she had forgotten to take into account the possibility of sexual harassment here. Luka's warning last night and Miki's hickey came to mind and she resisted the urge to groan – she really was too easily swayed by good money. But the money was for her brother, not herself, so she would go through with this and hope that Piko maintained a sense of professionalism at work. Piko rolled his eyes.

"I flirt with any woman in my vicinity, Miku. You know I have a bad reputation for that," he reminded her, sounding surprisingly self-deprecating while he did so. She squinted at him – she thought he looked unhappy, yet at the same time it wasn't really sadness that she was seeing in his expression…then Piko blinked and the moment was gone. "You don't have to worry about sexual harassment at work either since you're going to work on my floor, and no one else is there besides me. I don't get distracted at work…unless you're really trying to get my attention," he grinned.

"Don't flatter yourself," she exhaled. "Anyway, moving on – if this isn't the headquarters then why did you ask me to meet you here?" she looked up at the building again. Piko placed a hand on her shoulder and began to firmly guide her into the building, and while she was tempted to shrug his hand away from her she did find the physical weight of it to be somewhat comforting. It made her feel just a little bit better about herself – the presence of Utatane Piko let her think that maybe she could fit into the busy, high-flying ranks of the people who worked in Hillview Avenue too.

"This is…a meeting place, I guess you could call it," he explained as they walked into the building, the automatic sliding glass doors silently opening for them. She saw that they had to go through security checks to enter and headed towards one of the waiting guards, but Piko's hand suddenly latched on to her elbow and he pulled her back. "Don't bother. You're with me, so we won't need to go through any checks. Head towards that gate," Piko tilted his head towards a small side gate, manned by one of the imposing security guards – they were all dressed in black suits and they were all very tall, taller than both her and Piko. She shuffled towards him, feeling nervous about interacting with such a frightening man, and the security guard looked impassively at her before glancing at Piko.

Piko nodded, and the man pressed a button behind the gate – the transparent sliding doors parted, letting her into the building lobby, and she hurried past the security guard, not wanting to remain there for a moment longer. Piko took his time ambling past though, which frustrated her to no end. She bet he was taking his time on purpose because he figured out how nervous she was. "You seem to be remarkably out of your element," he commented when he reached her side. She glared up at him.

"You know I am! I've never gone through this kind of experience before," she shook her head, wondering if accepting the secretary job had been a bad decision. "Do I have to do this again every time I go to work? Because if I do, I think I might have a heart attack one of these days," she shot the security guards a dark look. They were all ignoring them now that she and Piko were on the other side of the guards, but their backs were no less intimidating than their fronts. Piko laughed softly.

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course not – the only security check in my offices is employee card scanning, just like most other large companies. Unless you refer to the basement, of course. Then there's a lot more, but you should already know that," he held her gaze for a while before turning away, heading into the building. "Stop gawking and follow me, I left the meeting with Lincon halfway after taking a self-declared break, but they must be wondering where I went by this point. Let's go," he ushered her towards one of the elevators, and she continued looking around at her surroundings.

They got into the elevator and he pressed the button for the thirtieth floor. Miku scanned the buttons quickly and saw there were fifty-five floors, which was even more than the other building she first encountered Piko in. The lift moved quickly but quietly, and it didn't take long before the doors opened. She and Piko had not spoken at all during the entire trip up, and now she followed him cautiously as he stepped out into the lobby, turning right towards another pair of sliding glass doors. There was a scanner on the wall next to the door. Piko walked towards the scanner, taking out his phone and tapping it against the scanner. The scanner beeped and the doors slid open, letting them enter the passageway beyond. Once they were through, the doors quietly closed.

The passageway was thickly carpeted, the walls a plain cream. There weren't any other branches so she just followed him all the way – there wasn't anything to look at, which was almost frustrating because she was getting more and more curious about what kind of place this was. The sparse decoration provided few hints, though the thick carpet made her think that this building was meant for the wealthy – which wasn't surprising, given that Piko was here. As she looked down, studying the plain grey carpeting, the passageway suddenly forked and Piko stood still, waiting for her. But since she was distracted she continued walking straight, almost bumping into him. Piko glanced at her, amusement on his face. "Pay attention to where you're going," he chided her, going left now.

Bashful, she followed, this time keeping her gaze on his back instead of on the floor. She was a little uncomfortable in her pumps since she was more used to walking in flats, but she knew that flats generally were not appropriate for business meetings and she didn't know exactly _how_ presentable Piko wanted her to be. So she opted for the formal route, deciding that it was worse to underdress than to overdress. The left fork opened out into a large room that was devoid of anything besides a few potted plants, a water dispenser and a long couch. Piko bypassed all those, heading to the other end of the room where there were two doors. "Are you ready?" he asked, looking at her once more.

She nodded, and he opened the door on the right. A cold blast of air greeted her and she shivered, timidly following Piko into the room. She saw what appeared to be a conference room, with a long polished table in the centre surrounded by black swivel armchairs. Most of those seats were filled by people, who were now all staring at her and Piko. She felt extremely out of place here, but Piko just swept into the room like he owned the place and cleared his throat. "I apologise for the delay, but I had to receive my new secretary. She has absolutely no sense of direction whatsoever," Piko's laugh was smooth and practiced, but she could tell it wasn't genuine. That was the only thing that stopped her from glaring at him – it wasn't like she had no sense of direction, Piko just hadn't given her _any_ directions to begin with and besides, he was the one who wanted to show her the way up here! But she kept quiet. The other people, whom she assumed were the Lincon people, just nodded in understanding.

"Just stand by the side of the room and don't fidget or get distracted. If anyone mentions a date, take note of that and the context in which the date was brought up," he whispered instructions to her as he slid into the vacant seat at the head of the table. She nodded, walking towards the side of the room and taking out a notepad from her purse, thankful that she had come prepared for this. Piko gave her one final look before he cleared his throat and resumed his meeting. It wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, but she found that she could understand most of the discussion and remembered to do as she was told, writing down a note every time a date was agreed upon.

* * *

"It's more of a personal assistant job than a secretarial job, I grant you that," Piko was sipping coffee as he sat opposite her, his long legs crossed casually while he leant back in his chair. His presence was drawing quite a few stares from the women seated around them, which made her feel a little uncomfortable. She ought to be used to the staring since she and Piko had dated in the past, but until now she could never get used to how much female attention Piko usually attracted.

"Yeah," she muttered, fidgeting in her chair. The pair of women sitting next to them had been giving her and Piko curious looks for the past ten minutes. "There were a _lot_ of dates involved. It was kind of hard to track them, actually. How did Miki do all this in the past?" she took out her notepad, looking through the notes she had taken. Merger, stock purchasing, marketing, another meeting with the CEO of Lincon, a promotional party…Utatane Piko was definitely a busy man. Piko set down his cup.

"Oh, she didn't," he sounded dismissive. "I used to do it mostly by myself. She did help a little with other matters, like organising my schedule and reminding me when I had meetings, but I had to personally take note of all my appointments. Just that she was the one who put it nicely into a schedule for me," Piko ran his fingers through his silver hair, closing his eyes. He looked irritated. "Before you ask why I didn't fire her before for her incompetence, I must tell you that in my company, what I prize most is trustworthiness – for a long time, I believed she was secretive enough to be of use to me. And while she never did betray my secrets, she did do…other things which caused me to doubt her. So when she suddenly turned in her letter of resignation, I saw no need to try and make her stay."

She nodded in understanding. "And you think I'm trustworthy, then?" she asked. Piko slowly opened his eyes, his enviably long, silvery eyelashes almost brushing his cheeks. He really was a beautiful man. She felt no shame in admitting that his looks were the very first thing that ever attracted her to him, and those looks brought in plenty of other women as well – he had always been quite the charmer. Not that she would fall for that again.

"I don't think you are. I _know_ you are," he smiled. "Besides, you couldn't say anything even if you wanted to. Big Sister Rin is always watching for any slips of the tongue," he lifted one finger, subtly indicating the CCTV camera monitoring the café. "And the others wouldn't have any trouble with helping me to keep your mouth shut, even your new darling," he abruptly leant forward, taking her by surprise. His face was right in front of hers, those dual coloured eyes watching her intently. "Do not forget that Len's first loyalty lies not to you nor to me, but to his _sister_. There is no one he cares for more in this world than his twin. And Rin's loyalties lie with me. If I give the command, you will be eliminated, so I hope this makes the whole thing clear for you. Oh, don't look so nervous," he laughed, "I trust you won't betray my confidence. We dated, remember? I know what you're like."

Miku rolled her eyes, trying to hide the fact that her heart was racing in her chest. She had always thought of Piko as capricious and a little self-centred, but the man who spoke to her just now was deadly serious and so unlike his usual self that she was actually scared. Rin had told her the same thing before, that Len would not hesitate to kill her if he was ever ordered to do so, and she shuddered. It was so easy to forget that he was an assassin. "I bet you can't even remember what it was like when we were dating," she snapped. "After you broke up with me, you suddenly disappeared! Like it was all just a game to you or something. We might have broken up, but you still should have told me where you went! I was actually worried for weeks!" she hadn't intended to let that slip out, and she quickly shut her mouth afterwards, hoping he hadn't been paying attention to what she was saying.

No such luck there, though. Piko's eyes widened and he stared at her wordlessly while she tried to pretend that she didn't say anything embarrassing, watching her cup of coffee like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. She winced when he spoke. "You were worried about me?" he asked. She peeked at him and found that his expression was inscrutable, so carefully blank that there was no way she could guess what was going through his mind. She sighed. At this point, she didn't even want to try and lie to him. Piko was really good at figuring out when she was lying…or maybe she was just obvious.

"Yeah. Anyone would be! Even Luka was concerned," she picked up her coffee cup to hide just how flustered she was. "You disappeared without warning, you didn't leave any letter or note, you didn't pick up your phone or reply any messages…I was surprised you still had my number, I thought you would have deleted it ages ago," she kept her gaze fixed on the coffee cup, refusing to look at him. She didn't want to know what kind of expression he had on his face. Why was she even saying all these things to him, anyway? Piko would probably just use it as emotional ammunition later.

"…Thank you for worrying about me," his words were so soft that she almost thought she misheard him. Shocked, she looked up at him and saw that he was still giving her that same intense stare. "I never knew that you felt that way when I left…if I had known maybe I would have left you a note," he hesitated. "But given your personality, you would have tried to look for me, and that wasn't a risk I was willing to take. I wouldn't have left the school if there was any alternative," he held her gaze for a while, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Then suddenly he smiled and looked away, breaking the strange atmosphere between them. "Let's not talk about the past. It's more important to look to the future anyway, don't you agree?" he winked. She put her cup back down, her fingers shaking.

She thought he was going to make fun of her for missing him, but the fact that he didn't startled her. In fact, he thanked her for it. Maybe the four years he disappeared had mellowed him, because the Piko she knew would have pounced on any chance to tease her. He was still a gorgeous flirt who could never seem to keep his hands to himself, but there was something about him which was different now. Maybe it was due to him running a company. She didn't think he could behave the way he used to in school if he was a CEO. But it was nice to see that he had matured a bit since leaving university.

Maybe working for him wouldn't be so bad after all…she looked at her notepad again and changed her mind. No, it was going to be hellish, keeping track of his schedule and whatnot. She would have liked to ask Miki how she did it since she _was_ Piko's previous secretary, even if he complained she didn't do a very good job, but she had no idea how to contact the woman so that was a dead end. Though she guessed she could always text Len and ask if he knew of a way to reach her. Len and Miki looked like they were close, since she had a nickname for Len and all – which she really found odd because she couldn't imagine anyone giving Len a cutesy nickname. He was adorable and really funny, but at the same time he just didn't _fit_ the cute stereotype. He was too…well, for lack of a better word, _manly_. She remembered what he looked like, standing over the two thugs he killed at the carpark. Yeah, Len was most definitely not cute. Again, she wondered what he would look like when he killed someone.

"Hey, Miku?" she looked up when Piko called her name. There was a playful smile on his face, which she was more comfortable dealing with than his earlier serious expression. She was used to him fooling around and being a jerk, but a serious Piko was just…strange. "Remember yesterday I asked you if you wanted to get a cup of coffee with me and you turned me down? Well, look where we are now," he blinked innocently at her. Miku gaped at him for a while, her mind processing what he just said, and abruptly came to the conclusion that he was, as usual, making fun of her. Nothing new there.

"That's because you hired me and I was already outside with you anyway," she retorted. "This is by no means a _date_. I already said before, don't expect me to sleep with you or date you or _anything_ just because we ran into each other again. We broke up four years ago, and I'm not going back to that relationship," she concluded, looking away from him at the rest of the café. Why did people keep staring at them? It just reminded her of her university days, when she and Piko went out together. People always looked at her when she was out with Piko simply because the air around him was so… _different_.

She didn't really have good memories of their breakup. It was something she avoided thinking about because Piko, despite not being her first boyfriend, was the first guy she had actually wanted to stick with. It wasn't because he was rich, though of course she knew that would make her life very comfortable in the future. There was just something about Piko that made her feel…secure, and not just financially either. She couldn't explain it. Maybe it was because he never paid other girls any attention after they finally got together, and he constantly told her that she had nothing to be jealous of. In the end he still chose her, right? So for a long time, she always thought their breakup was her fault. It took a year for her to realise that it wasn't, that maybe they just weren't compatible with each other.

Honestly she didn't even know why they broke up. He just suddenly one day told her that he was sorry, but he couldn't continue with the relationship any longer. She immediately assumed it was because she refused to sleep with him the night before and stormed out of the room, which she regretted doing afterwards because following that they never spent any more time with each other. He avoided her entirely, replying all her messages with single-word answers, and then shortly after that he disappeared. So sometimes she wondered, if she hadn't just thrown a tantrum and left the room without asking him the reason _why_ , would he have disappeared? Maybe things would be different now.

It felt like after Piko her luck with guys plummeted drastically, and she rarely lasted more than a few months with anyone new. Though maybe this time Len would be different. "Miku, I'm just curious," Piko's voice jolted her out of her musings, "but…do you really like Len?" he met her gaze, head tilted as he awaited an answer. She blinked. Was he really expecting her to answer that? She couldn't help but feel like this was a setup for some lewd joke, but Piko looked surprisingly earnest.

"Yes…?" her answer sounded like a question. Piko nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair again. He didn't seem remotely affected by what she said, and she wondered why he even brought it up in the first place. "Why are you so interested, anyway?" she asked in return. His gaze, which had drifted away from her, suddenly snapped back to her face. She couldn't help but flinch. He was frowning.

"Because Len is my employee and I don't want his performance to suffer in Paris," he said smoothly. But she had heard him speaking this way to the Lincon people all afternoon, and that made her feel suspicious about what he was saying. After a while, she realised that when Piko used that manner of speech, he usually was hiding something. "And also, I'm concerned about how you two will progress from here. You know he's an assassin. He can't ever marry you, not officially at least. On government records, you'll be single forever. And he's always on the run from the authorities. Being with him means your life will be fraught with danger and uncertainty. Are you sure that this is what you want?" he held her gaze, as though challenging her to rebuke him. She swallowed.

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet," she answered honestly. "Right now, I just know that I like him. I'm not sure if we're going to end up a couple because as of now, we're just dating, trying to get to know each other better. We're not official – _but_ I definitely like him," she added. "He's hilarious and super sweet, and he treats me very well. Unlike someone else I know," she narrowed her eyes at Piko, "he'll probably tell me before he disappears on me. At least he told me from the very beginning who he really was and what he did. Unlike someone, who never told me anything personal at all!"

Her voice had gotten slightly louder and she struggled to bring it back down to a normal volume, taking in a deep breath to calm herself down. Piko looked faintly surprised by her outburst. "If you really wanted to know more about me you could have asked," he shrugged. "You never brought up my past so I just thought there wasn't a need to tell you anything. And no, there's still no need to tell you anything about myself," he added at the look on her face. Miku glared at him, folding her arms across her chest.

"See? This is what I meant! You're always…hiding things. I never brought it up because you said you had a complicated childhood and that you didn't want to talk about it, so I respected your privacy. But no one knows where you work or what you do, and even the Lincon people didn't bring it up during your meeting just now. It's like you warn everyone around you not to let slip any information about yourself," she seethed. She herself didn't know why she was suddenly so agitated about this matter, but she thought that since she was working for him now, she had the right to know some things. Piko just looked at her.

"I have reasons for not telling you anything," he spoke in a low voice. "Please understand that. You know that I'm not just a normal businessman, so…won't you trust that I have reasons that aren't _normal_ either?" he asked beseechingly. She swallowed. For once, he actually looked conflicted, and the longer she stared at him the less angry she became. Sighing, she tapped her fingers against the table, wondering how she was supposed to put up with all this secrecy. Was this what Len's life was like, every single day? Living in the shadows, eavesdropping on secrets, killing people and never telling a single soul. She couldn't imagine such a stifling, suffocating life, especially not under Piko's employment.

In the end she nodded, and relief spread across his face. "You'll find out in due time. Maybe when you go to Paris, Len will explain a few things to you," he drained the rest of his coffee, pushing the empty cup away from him. "As for the company I work in…well, I guess there's no harm in letting you know. I'm the CEO of Hyrex Enterprises," he shrugged, "which you've most likely heard of at one point or the other. You know of the name, yes?" she nodded, stunned by this realisation. Hyrex was a well-known brand in the software and security industry, specialising in home or corporate security systems but also dealing with laptops, tablets, mobile phones and antivirus software.

Though it was strange that such a famous company didn't have an actual website. Customers who needed tech support were often asked to send emails to their email address, but the company itself was secretive about its operations despite being a publicly-owned firm. She read once in the news that Hyrex was very strange, for only a few people owned shares in Hyrex. There was a period of time where the value of Hyrex shares dropped, resulting in a mad rush to sell them off – these shares were purchased by a small group of buyers who had been holding on to them ever since. The news article she read called it the 'Hyrex Conspiracy' and questioned whether this small group of shareholders were actually the owners of Hyrex themselves, effectively making it a listed company with a privately-held structure. The news article also drew attention to the fact that Hyrex shares were only owned by the public when it was younger and in need of external capital, and once it reached a certain level of self-sufficiency the value of the shares suddenly dropped drastically, caused by a few mysterious shareholders suddenly getting rid of all their Hyrex stock. It was a very interesting case.

"So are you a listed or unlisted company?" she shot at him, continuing her train of thought. Piko blinked at her, evidently startled by the question, but now that she knew about his workplace she was going to ask him all the questions she wanted. The CEO of Hyrex Enterprises was sitting right opposite her! Three years ago, the 'Hyrex Conspiracy' was the hottest financial topic in the news, and her friends who were studying business and economics wouldn't shut up about it. Now she could get all the facts straight from Piko and show off to those friends. Not that she still kept in touch with many of them.

"We're listed. But our shares are concentrated in the hands of a few shareholders who seem very reluctant to get rid of them, no matter what bad decisions I make for the company," Piko rolled his eyes. "I'm thankful that I get people to take my name off the Internet every night. It's fun to watch others searching for information regarding Hyrex's CEO only to find nothing. I never liked dealing with reporters. It's bad enough interacting with other companies," he shrugged again. Miku gaped – so he really _did_ get people to take his name out of search engines every night. Maybe that was the main duty of his entire hacker team?

"I can't believe I'm working for Hyrex," she said quietly, looking around the café. Suddenly, she felt very different from everyone else here, like she was in some way superior to the rest. Hyrex was one of the biggest multinational companies in the world, and their secrecy started up all sorts of theories about the firm. Some said that Hyrex had ties to the Illuminati, others said they were actually a religious cult, and she once saw someone claiming that Hyrex was a dummy corporation used to siphon funds away from government budgets. But no one could deny the fact that Hyrex products were of high quality, and it was common nowadays to see people using Hyrex mobile phones or laptops.

"Don't let it get to your head," Piko gave her a crooked smile. "Anyway, now you know so please stop accusing me of never sharing information with you. I'll let you know everything that's possible for me to share, so…I hope you can trust me. A personal assistant should always trust her boss," his crooked smile widened. She nodded slowly – she would try, since what he said made sense. He was her employer now so she would have to believe him, no matter what he said. "Good. Keep my words in mind – being with Len won't be easy. I'm not trying to discourage your relationship, but…well, I don't want to see you suffering by his side. And don't mess up his job in Paris either, otherwise I'll have a difficult time answering to my father. You understand that, right?" he waited for a response.

She nodded again. He exhaled. "All right, then let's go. I have to get back to the office now because the shareholders keep insisting on having meetings about Lincon's merger. It's irritating, but I can't just ignore them since they're giving us most of our capital," he muttered, more to himself than to her. "Shall we leave?" he raised his voice slightly, addressing her. They got up from their table and she followed him as he left the café, the small bell over the door ringing as they stepped outside. Piko was already on his phone talking to someone as he walked over to his car, an expensive-looking vehicle which probably cost more than her entire lifetime expenditure. Piko really was a very busy person.

He opened the car door for her before getting in from the other side. She looked out of the window while he placed his phone on a stand, switching to loudspeaker as he drove and talked at the same time. She was his personal assistant now, which made her a little nervous – she was spending time with an ex-boyfriend, it would make anyone nervous – but she hoped she wouldn't regret taking up this job.

She was aware that Piko kept looking at her while he was driving. She could sense his eyes upon her, but whenever she turned away from the window his gaze would be fixed on the road once more. The feeling of him staring at her made the skin on the back of her neck prickle, and she wished he would either stop looking at her or just talk to her already – but he was always on the phone with someone, so she just stayed quiet and thought about things. It was a long drive, so she had plenty of time to think to herself.

His warning about Len was the most prominent thought she had throughout the entire drive. Would it really be that difficult to settle down with an assassin? She hoped Piko was just exaggerating the situation. Surely it couldn't be that bad.


	7. Chapter 7

He leapt nimbly from ledge to ledge, rolling to minimise the impact of his landing. Halfway through the motion he got out his gun and sprang up ready to fire, blasting a hole through the target which popped up in front of him. Ducking beneath the steel block, he hid, waiting for the right moment.

There was a loud 'whoosh' sound, and he closed his eyes before the resulting flash bomb could blind him. Inhaling, he slipped out from his hiding spot, darting over to the next block before he turned back and aimed – three more targets snapped backwards, the force of the bullets breaking them into two. Glancing up, he saw a ladder hanging down the wall and proceeded to climb nimbly upwards, towards the top of the block where he could get a quick better view of the course.

He had to pause halfway to shoot at more targets a few times – if he didn't get every target within five seconds of it popping up, the sensor on his wrist would emit an electric shock strong enough to stun him for a few seconds, and obviously he didn't want that happening to him. He got up to the roof and scanned the surroundings, noting that there was a minefield to the complex in the east side and straight ahead, there was quicksand. Sighing, he jumped back down, bending his knees slightly and hitting the ground running. There were drones after him now, which made things annoying.

Something grazed his arm and he winced – though the drones only shot paint pellets instead of actual bullets, at this speed it was enough to sting a little. It had just barely missed him. Glancing around quickly, he noticed the three drones on his tail and promptly turned into an alley, where the blocks were squeezed close together and it would be difficult to shoot at him. "These exercises are getting more and more realistic," he muttered to himself, choosing to veer leftwards to avoid coming out onto the minefield. He wasn't sure what was lying in the west, but it ought to be a lot better than paint-filled landmines. He intended to clear this without getting a single drop of paint on him – easier said than done, since even Gumo hadn't succeeded in achieving a perfect score.

But the difference between him and Gumo was that Gumo was a spy, while he was an assassin. Bursting out from his shelter, he glanced back and saw that the drones were still following him, shooting paint pellets in his direction. He knew they only shot in a straight line so he kept weaving left and right as he ran across the plaza, heading towards the next cluster of blocks. He hopped over the thin silver tripwire strung across the ground, knowing it would trigger the pit mechanism in the plaza and that would be the end of his game. He got to the blocks safely, running while he tried to get his bearings and figure out which way was the exit. Was it straight up north, or further west?

He slowed to a jog within the blocks, looking around in the hopes that the surroundings would give a clue as to where the exit was. The blocks in this area were all dark blue, and that meant he was either getting nearer to the exit or further away. The colours usually progressed down a spectrum from red to blue, but depending on the day it could go either way. He wasn't too sure himself, but since he remembered seeing a lot more red than blue while he was running he guessed that he was heading in the right direction, so he continued westwards. Either way, he just had to get to the exit without being hit by paint. There wasn't a time limit to this course, unlike some of the others they had in this building. He thought he'd give this one a try and was quite surprised at how difficult it was.

"Len, stop messing around," the sound of his name echoing loudly over the compound startled him, especially when white light flooded the room and the drones which had been chasing him suddenly switched themselves off, dropping onto the ground. He looked up, where the voice had come from, and saw Gumo standing on the observation deck pressing the emergency 'stop' button. Len sighed, disappointed about the interruption, but Gumo was unmoved. "Stop playing with our spy simulation system. You've been hogging it a whole lot recently. Just ask Piko to give you a personalised one of your own if you want one," Gumo called crossly. Len exhaled, pushing his sweaty hair away from his face.

"He's not going to give me one. I'm not going to stay here for much longer, after all," he called back, injecting as much annoyance into his voice as possible. "I can't believe you interrupted me! I was going to get through this without being hit by any paint. Even you didn't manage to do that," he smirked, flipping his fringe away from his eyes. Gumo stared down at him from the observatory deck, his hand still on the emergency stop button. Then suddenly the spy pressed another button and Len felt the ground beneath his feet shift – a giant pit opened up below him before he could leap out of the way, and he found himself yelling incomprehensibly as he landed right into a vat of foul-smelling orange paint.

It took a while before he managed to clean himself up entirely. The paint had gotten everywhere and despite a change of clothes, the chemical stink lingered malignantly around him. He glared at the back of Gumo's head as they walked down the passageway towards the hacker division. "Now that was just unnecessary," he complained, sniffing at his wrist and cringing at the smell. Previous experience told him that it would take a few more hours, perhaps even an entire day, before the paint smell faded completely. "You could have just told me to get out of there. Making me fall into a vat of that gunk was a really low blow, Gumo."

"You were being annoying, so I thought I'd just give you a taste of your own medicine," Gumo gave him a sly smile. "Anyway, about this matter – Rin called me and told me to go to her office, and you know she has spare computers there that are hooked up to her security feed as well right? Of course I went to take a look and, what do you know? Your date has become Piko's new secretary!" Gumo shook his head, something almost like disbelief on his face. "I don't know what this means for your mission now because Piko is virtually useless without his secretary…so is he still going to let Miku go to Paris?"

Len blinked. "Miku is Piko's secretary now?" he asked. His voice sounded strange to his own ears. It was just weird to think about this, given that he had killed off Miki just last night. That was a very quick replacement, though it wasn't surprising given that Piko was the one arranging all this. One thing Len could say about Piko was that their boss was highly efficient. "I wonder how she's coping with it…the job doesn't seem to be very easy," he observed. Gumo stared at him and Len stared right back. "What?" he asked, tilting his head.

"I thought you'd be more upset about it. I mean, she's the girl you're interested in, isn't she? And Piko used to be her ex. I'd be plenty worried if I were you," Gumo shrugged, turning right towards the hacker division. Rin's office was beside the pantry there, not that she really went there very often. His twin sister preferred to stay at home to finish up her work – lucky for her that her job didn't require her physical presence. "You're not concerned at all?" Gumo added slowly when Len kept quiet.

"…Concerned, huh?" Len muttered. He glanced up, meeting Gumo's curious gaze, and gave him a bright smile. "Nah, of course not. It's just a job and it's a decent one at that, it's not like he's paying her to sleep with him or something. And I understand the need for secrecy in this corporation," he shrugged as well. "Besides, we're not dating exclusively or something…not yet, anyway. I certainly like her, but she might not feel the same way about me," he added. "I don't want to restrict her freedom or anything when we're not really like, a couple yet. In fact, I don't know if I actually want her to like me or not…" he scratched his head awkwardly. "I talked to her that night on impulse. I didn't think it through, and now she's stuck in this whole mess because of me…I'm not safe to be around," he sighed. "I do like her, and if she ends up deciding to be with me then fine, but until then it'll be better for her if she reconsiders."

"I never knew you could be so self-sacrificial," Gumo remarked, giving him a look of surprise. Len found it almost offensive – was he really that self-centred? "Your philosophy has always been to put yourself first, after all. I figured you'd just wing it and run away with her or something. That seems like a very…ah, 'Len' thing to do," he laughed. Len just narrowed his eyes and punched him in the shoulder.

"First of all, I'm not sacrificing anything. I already said, if she chooses to be with me despite knowing about my job and everything, then that's great. But until that point, we're not official so if she gets cold feet I'm not going to hunt her down and threaten her or something," he winced. "I don't intend to pressure her into agreeing to a relationship if she doesn't wholeheartedly want it. And I'd totally understand if she doesn't want to be my girlfriend. I'm an assassin, for heaven's sake," he smiled bitterly, "and obviously I'm not the safest guy to be around…but oh well. Let's just hope that she's a thrill seeker, then?" and he was back to his usual cheerful self. Gumo looked suspiciously at him.

"Okay, do whatever you want. It's your relationship anyway, not mine," he shrugged. "I just thought you deserved to know, since you like her after all. But more importantly, Rin left a thumb drive in her office yesterday and forgot to take it home. Honestly, I don't believe that she simply _forgot_ about it, that just seems so unlike her…but whatever. She asked me to bring it to her house today but I have a few things to sort out with my sister later so I won't have time. Could you take it to her instead?" they arrived at the hacker division, where everyone was silently working away at their stations as usual. Len didn't like this part of the underground office. It was too silent here, too cold and sterile.

But that was probably why Rin was a hacker here. She had lived with sterility all her life, and it was all she knew. Though he was aware that her refusal to work here unless absolutely necessary was a subtle rebellion against herself, her way of trying to break free of what she had been trapped by her entire life. Well, that along with her fear of germs. "Yeah sure, I can drop by her place on the way back to the inn," he squinted at Gumo. "What I have to say though, is that sending me on an errand on my sister's behalf does not justify interrupting my fun," he pointed out. Gumo just gave him another sly grin, and Len rolled his eyes in response. He probably wouldn't be able to make the spy admit that he was simply jealous of Len's achievement. "Why didn't you just bring the thumb drive to me instead of making me stop and come all the way here for it?" he asked.

"Because I like to see you suffer," Gumo replied, his tone taunting. Len exhaled – that wasn't even worth an answer. They were right outside Rin's vacant office now, Gumo searching his pocket for the key. There were only three people besides Rin herself who had access to this room – Gumo, Piko and Len himself, provided Len hadn't misplaced the key. He had lost it on a few occasions before much to his sister's irritation, and she informed him that the next time he lost her office key she would broadcast his current location to Interpol. So right now, Len was being very careful about where he kept that key. "Hey, assassin," Gumo spoke as he finally drew the key out of his shirt pocket, "let me just ask you a question because I'm awfully curious about it…are you really still a virgin?" he grinned. Len gave him a droll look, wondering whether or not this question was worth replying.

"If you're stupid enough to trust Rin then go ahead and believe whatever you want about me. I feel that the both of us have better things to think about than my sex life," he pushed the door open as Gumo turned the key, both men entering the cold, empty space that was Kagamine Rin's workspace. The office reflected Rin's personality – organised, excessively tidy and minimalistic. There wasn't a single thing out of place on her desk, and even the pens in their pen holder were colour coordinated to match the folders she kept on her shelves. Len shuddered – this space made him feel almost…trapped.

Rin was basically the complete opposite of him. "You sound really defensive about this topic, assassin," Gumo wriggled his eyebrows, a gleeful look on his face. Len was left wondering how this man had even managed to get so far in his career. "I'm guessing Miku is more experienced than you, then. And she was in a relationship with our boss, of all people! How do you feel about that?"

"How about I put a bullet through your forehead right now?" Len deadpanned, walking around the desk and looking through Rin's drawers. Gumo seemed content to watch him search for the thumb drive, sitting on the edge of the desk and waiting for him. Rin's three computers were all switched on, and Len took a glance at the middle screen – the monitor showed a live feed of a building interior, he wasn't sure which one. Rin could be watching any one of their offices at any given moment. It wasn't his business to care anyway, and there wasn't anything interesting to look at.

"Well, you can't do that. Unlike you, I'm a protected man. Though that's because of your own choices rather than Piko's," Gumo shrugged, folding his arms across his chest. Len's gaze darted towards the spy's shirt, which he knew concealed the mark signifying his status as "untouchable". "Then again, you're a pretty special guy, aren't you? You've been running away from people your entire life. So I guess if there's anyone who can pull off murdering a _famiglia_ member without explicit permission, it'd be you. It'd just be yet another organisation chasing after you, right?" Gumo added impassively.

"I sometimes wonder what it would be like, to stop running for a moment," Len said pensively, pausing his search – Rin usually left her things in the strangest places, which could be really frustrating at times. There was once she hid a floppy disk between two pieces of bread in her fridge. "But then I couldn't imagine anything beyond running because the very instant I stop, someone will kill me. It wouldn't matter so much if it was just about me, but if I die Rin will be left alone – no, you know that you and I mean different things to her," he explained at the look on Gumo's face. "I don't want to leave her again a third time, so…I just need to keep on finding a way to survive, I guess."

Gumo remained silent for a while. Then the spy suddenly sighed. "I'd be bloody exhausted if I were you. I couldn't imagine being anywhere other than here. When you're in the _famiglia_ , you don't have to think so much about trying to survive. You just do what the boss tells you to do and trust that in return, you won't be murdered," he looked up at the ceiling while Len resumed his search for the stupid thumb drive. Rin and Gumo owed him big time for this. "But assassin, you're a lot nicer when you're around the girl," Len knew that Gumo was referring to Miku. "I think seeing you with her…it was the first time in a long time I actually saw you smiling genuinely. Your real smile is much better than the fake ones you put on when you meet important people, you actually look like you're constipated when you smile like that…"

Len stopped searching for a while, taken aback by Gumo's observation. "Really?" he had to think about it too. When was the last time he smiled properly before meeting Miku? "She's just so different from us, she's such a complete stranger to our world. I feel like around her, I can be myself again instead of being Kagamine Len, the most wanted assassin in the world," he smiled wryly. "She was like a little buffer against reality. Which was why I wasn't too keen on her coming to Paris…I didn't want her to see what I'm like when I'm working. She shouldn't have to see me the way you all do," he exhaled.

"Oh, yeah. Come to think of it, that was the first time I ever saw you really arguing with Rin," Gumo tapped his finger against his chin. "But in the end you gave in like the good little brother you are. I guess that going along with everything your sister says is what you have to do so that she'll continue to fight with Piko over your pitiful salary," the spy snorted. "Not that it's really all that pathetic in the first place, since you don't have to pay a cut of your earnings to our boss like normal associates do…but aren't you worried that Miku will get hurt in Paris?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"What a stupid question. Of course I'm worried," Len crouched down, opening the last drawer. He was getting increasingly irritated with trying to find the damned thumb drive. "We all told her that it's gonna be an easy job but at the same time, we know it's not. Piko only uses my skills when it's an urgent mission, meaning it's one of two things. Either he needs the guy bumped off _fast_ ," Len held up one finger, "or he needs it done _discreetly_. And this time he needs both because of how dangerous this particular target is. I don't know how I'm not going to get her involved in this mess, but…Rin is right, I won't be able to pull this one off on my own. So there you go, my entire dilemma summarised in a few sentences," he shrugged.

The last drawer was full of old papers and a vast array of floppy disks, but as he combed through the items the thumb drive still failed to materialise. "You could have gone with someone else from the office," Gumo reasoned. "I definitely know Rin was lying to Miku about you not getting along with the women at work. More like _she's_ the one who doesn't get along with anyone," Gumo shook his head. "Why is she insisting on Miku accompanying you? I'd think someone as paranoid as Rin would doubt anyone from the outside, but she's being surprisingly supportive about this matter."

"Because she thinks I'll like it if Miku comes along," Len rolled his eyes, shutting the drawer and standing back up. "Don't get me wrong, I love Miku's company, but Rin just doesn't seem to understand that normal people like Miku aren't used to dealing with our bullshit," he went over to the shelves, wondering if Rin left the thumb drive along one of the ledges. "She's so out of touch with society that she thinks _anyone_ can learn how to defend themselves within a month, simply because she managed that herself…she's doing this for me and I appreciate that greatly, but honestly?" he exhaled, looking at the top shelf. Nothing there. "I don't want to argue with her over this, so the best I can do is hope that I can take care of both of us at the same time. Rin gave Piko a really good argument as to why I should bring someone outside the organisation too, so unless Piko changes his mind due to Miku being a personal acquaintance of his, he's not going to stop Rin from sending Miku to Paris with me."

"Have you ever heard of the henpecked husband? You, Len, are the henpecked _brother_ ," Gumo snorted, shaking his head disdainfully. "Though I suppose I understand the desire not to argue with Kagamine Rin. The last time we really fought she cleared my bank account and got me into some major debts with three new credit cards she signed up for using my identity. Never piss off your hacker girlfriend," he shuddered. "She's scary enough when she's not angry. So you're going to risk Miku getting kidnapped or harmed in Paris just because big sister Rin told you to do so?"

"Don't put it that way…but yes," Len groaned, turning to face the rest of the office. Where could Rin have hidden her bloody thumb drive? "She keeps saying that people in Piko's employment are more likely to hamper me than help me because their loyalty is to him, while my main concern is staying free of Sicario's clutches rather than completing my assignment. Of course I'll finish my mission, but if I see Sicario people around I'm getting out of there pronto, and Piko's people won't agree to that," he scratched his head. "In fact, I don't even know if I should be telling you this. You're one of those people who pledged their allegiance to him too, so I think I'm supposed to be more concerned?"

"There's no point in hiding it from me. I was there when you were rescued, remember? I know your situation well enough. Besides, my sister is one of the only sources of information you have regarding Sicario's movements," Gumo frowned. "I'm not going to say anything to Piko anyway. He already knows about all this. I bet Rin said something about how it'll be good to have an outsider go with you so that it'll take attention away from his _famiglia_ or something…that man's first priority is always the organisation, always the family. I don't think there's ever anything else on his mind!"

"Yeah, she told him something like that. It's a valid point, just…why did it have to be someone I actually like?" Len sighed again. He was sighing a lot throughout this conversation. "Rin said she's coming anyway, so I'll make her look after Miku since she was the one who got her into this mess in the first place. Are you going to come with her?" he added. "If you follow Rin then you'll need to take measures to ensure you're not seen by the Venetians. I'm sure they know who you are…"

"I don't know if I have permission to come yet. I need to clear that with Boss first," Gumo stared at Len, who was now poking around in Rin's potted plant, wondering if the thumb drive had been buried in the soil. It wouldn't be the first time she did something like that. "God, I'm sick of messing around with you. Here it is," Len whipped around to glare at the spy as he took a small silver thumb drive out from his pocket and tossed it at Len. His hand snapped out reflexively, catching the tiny object, and the idea of drawing out his pistol and actually putting a bullet or two in the smirking spy really crossed his mind. Thankfully for Gumo, he dismissed the idea just as quickly. "I live solely to enjoy your pain. Suck it up, Len – I'm helping you learn how to survive in the harsh reality of the outside world," Gumo chirruped. Len slipped the thumb drive into his pocket, brushing down his shirt and giving the spy the iciest glare he could manage.

Gumo froze. For that moment, Len looked enough like his twin sister to intimidate him just a _tiny_ bit. "You're lucky we're in the office now. If we were outside, I'd put a few rounds in you. Preferably enough to take you out of commission for a few months," Len said acidly. "Anyway, get Piko to give you clearance as soon as you can. The more people I have to look after Miku, the better."

"You want me to come just to play babysitter?" Gumo exclaimed. "No way – I want to go for the fancy meals too…okay, okay! Stop pointing that thing at me!" he hastily held up his hands as Len aimed a gun straight at him, his blue eyes narrowing. "Jesus. You really can't take a joke, can you?"

"Oh, I can take a joke. But not from you. You make my stomach churn," he answered, still in that same acidic way, brushing past Gumo out of the office. Gumo followed him, closing and locking the door behind them. "If you value your life I'd recommend you get out of my sight right now, you really pissed me off and I won't be in trouble if I shoot you here without killing you," Len threw over his shoulder as he marched down the corridor towards the lift that would take him to the main office upstairs. Gumo briefly considered the pros and cons of doing as Len said and decided that it would be a bad idea to provoke the assassin any further, opting to remain behind and maybe return to his desk. He had irritated Len enough for today, and he had lots of paperwork piling up.

"You know, you're really a lot nicer when you're around Miku!" he called out towards Len's back, unable to resist a final jab. Len stopped for a moment at the sound of her name. "You should spend more time with her, you're more fun that way," he continued, wondering how Len would react.

The assassin ended up ignoring him, continuing down the passageway and turning out of sight. Gumo exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing his fringe away from his eyes. Len really was so different around her, like a completely new person…no, actually there was a period where he did behave that way. It was before he was captured by Sicario – back then, he had been a lot more carefree. After he was rescued he became…defensive. He was still a lot more easy-going than Rin, but sometimes his behaviour would change and he became really moody. Seeing Len with Miku made him remember what it was like when Rin first walked into the underground office, accompanied by a cheerful stranger who looked exactly like her…

He looked around when he heard someone clearing their throat loudly and realised that half of the hackers in the vicinity were glaring up at him, having paused whatever they were doing. He and Len had forgotten that there were other people in the area, and Gumo suddenly realised just how loudly the two of them had been talking. Shooting the hackers an apologetic look, he hurried out of the hacker division towards his own office, glad to escape those withering glares. The people who worked under Rin really behaved a lot like her. No wonder they were so happy that she was their boss.

* * *

Miku kicked off her pumps and massaged her calves, glad to have gotten to the end of a long day. The money Piko had promised her for working this one day for him was safely in her wallet, and she wondered if she ought to treat herself to something nice with it. She didn't even have to buy dinner today because Piko told her to just take a bento set from the cafeteria if she wanted to, and the food looked surprisingly good. One thing she could say was that Piko definitely cared about his employees.

She agreed to stay on after today – who wouldn't when they could earn such a great salary – and Piko seemed relieved by that. Though the work wasn't easy, especially when she had to actually try and fit all his appointments into one schedule without anything clashing, it was doable. Her main duties so far seemed to consist of keeping Piko up-to-date with internal affairs, arranging his schedule for him and basically accompanying him everywhere he went. He did warn her that this was just the beginning though, and as time went by she would be entrusted with more and more work. But Miku was confident she could do it…at least for now she was. She might change her mind about her own abilities in the future, but for now she tried to maintain a positive outlook.

Luka still wasn't home yet, which was odd. Was she working a full day today? She kept her shoes on the shoe rack and headed straight to their room – the apartment they shared was also rented out to another girl, and Miku and Luka didn't really know her very well so they tried to avoid bumping into her if possible. It was easy to avoid her anyway since all of them were working most of the time, and she seemed to spend a lot of time outside too. Miku couldn't recall seeing her at all the past week.

Miku wanted to take a nice, relaxing bath and maybe go straight to sleep, but Piko already had work for her to bring home, ignoring the fact that this was only her first day. He wanted her to look over an entire folder of documents and arrange them by name – a simple task, but the folder was really thick and she didn't even want to know how many papers there were inside. " _The personal assistant of Hyrex's CEO must be ready to handle any amount of work at any time_!" she remembered Piko barking at her when she complained about the magnitude of the task. She wondered if this was why Piko was paying her so much for this job – simply because of the disproportionate amount of work.

She went to her room, struggling to balance the huge folder with her bento box and her purse. Luka wasn't in their room either – not surprising, since she hadn't seen Luka's shoes on the rack – but it did make her curious about where her best friend had gone. Huffing, she set the folder and the bento dinner down on her desk, rootling through her purse for her phone – it was the first time she had been able to check her messages in hours since Piko kept her constantly working. He really was a busy man. Though she knew that a CEO would have a hectic schedule, she never really understood just how much work he had to do until she was his personal assistant, and she didn't know whether to be impressed or just terrified at how much he could handle. _This_ was the guy she had dated four years ago – the same guy who charmed his way out of handing in homework, who was known for being able to get a girl into bed with him within five minutes of meeting her – _this_ was the same guy?

She had a few unread messages – one was from her brother, telling her about his day. She smiled at that – he was still so young, so his life seemed completely different from hers. He hadn't even entered college yet, and here she was trying to work and earn money. He told her about how he got yelled at by a customer at work today, sounding incredibly depressed about the incident. She sent him a cheery text to help lift his spirits and went on to the next message, which was from Luka, explaining her sudden disappearance. Apparently she ran into a cute guy at work so they were going on a date tonight. Well, good for her – Luka had always attracted loads of guys, they went to her like bees to honey.

The last message…it was from Len, much to her surprise. It was just a simple sentence – ' _Call me when you're free_ ' – but it made her curious about what was going on. She couldn't help but think that anything related to Len would be really exciting, though perhaps it wasn't the kind of exciting that was good for her. Leaving her work alone for now, she sat on her bed and called him, wondering what he wanted to tell her. She bet there was an important reason why he texted her. He was an assassin after all, and she didn't think that he had the time to just message her whenever he wanted.

Len picked up after a few rings. "Hey," he sounded breathless, "I know I said call me when you're free but um, this is kind of a bad time," he laughed. She thought she could hear sirens wailing in the background and quickly grew concerned. She tried to ask him what was going on over there, but she only managed to say his name before he interrupted her. "I'm just going to put you on hold for a while, okay? Don't hang up, I'll be back in a bit," and abruptly his voice was replaced by hold music.

Miku squinted at her phone, wondering what the heck he was up to. She just hoped he wasn't in trouble or something, though she doubted he would have done anything stupid enough to attract the attention of the police. Pressing her phone against her ear, she waited for him to finally come back to the phone, and three minutes passed before the hold music was cut. "Okay, hi," Len greeted her, the background now completely quiet.

"What was happening just now?" Miku immediately asked, staring at the wall opposite her. Her gaze was reluctantly drawn to the folder on her desk, and she tried not to think about how much work she would have to do after this call was over. Len just laughed again, this time sounding nervous.

"Oh, nothing much…someone accidentally knocked me over with their car and it just so happened that there were police nearby, so they came to investigate before I could get up and run off. Obviously I don't want to be involved with the police even as a victim, so I just escaped the moment I saw an opening and for some reason, they decided to chase me for a while. But I lost them so it's all good!" she could imagine him shrugging and smiling, but Miku was absolutely astonished by what he just told her.

"You got hit by a _car_?" she exclaimed. "Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?" she fretted. Then she realised it was stupid to worry about Len. He had just run away from a bunch of police officers so of course he was all right, wasn't he? But she wanted to be sure. "Go see a doctor if you're not okay!"

"Hey, hey, you don't have to be so concerned about me. I'm really sturdy. It's gonna take way more than a reversing car to do me any damage," he said with brash confidence, then suddenly he laughed again. "But thanks for worrying anyway. I like being fussed over. Is it just because it's you?" he mused. Miku was suddenly grateful that they weren't face-to-face – she could feel her face warming at his words. "To be honest," he continued, bringing her attention back to him, "I wanted you to call me because of something else. I knew you'd be busy…you're working for Piko as his secretary now, aren't you?"

She was surprised by that. "How did you know?" she asked. "I was going to tell you about it the next time we met, but I guess I won't have to now! It pays really well though so I don't mind having a lot of work to do," she smiled. Len stayed quiet, and as the silence stretched on she began to worry. "Len?" she asked, wondering if he was still there – but he had to be, she could hear him breathing.

"Oh? Yeah, I'm there. Sorry, I spaced out for a bit," his voice quietened. "Anyway, if you run into any problems at work, just let me know, okay? I'll talk to Piko about it, or I'll get someone to talk to him if I can't…he's a total workaholic, and I don't want him to drag you down too. I have never seen another person who works as much as him," he sighed. "I actually really hope you'll reconsider your decision to be his personal assistant because you're just going to work yourself to exhaustion…"

"I'll be fine!" she reassured him. "Like you, I'm built out of some sturdy stuff," she flexed her arm for herself to see and was a little sad to see that she was actually rather flabby. She needed to find some time to work out soon. "But speaking of this job, do you know how to contact Miki? She was Piko's secretary before this, right?" she asked brightly. "I want to ask her how she managed to handle all the work!"

"Miki?" Len's voice sounded strange. "You want to…contact Miki?" suddenly he laughed, though this time his laughter sounded forced. "Why are you asking me about her? I don't really have her contact information or anything like that. Besides, I heard she's busy nowadays. I don't think she'd pick up the phone even if you knew what number to call," he added. Miku frowned. Len sounded unlike his usual self – in fact, if she really had to describe his voice, he sounded…ill? But he was fine earlier.

"I don't know, I assumed you and Miki were kind of close because she gave you that nickname and you two seemed to get along well," she explained. "But it's okay if you don't have her number or anything. Piko did say something about her having a family emergency so I guess I shouldn't try to bother her during this critical period," she switched the phone over to her other ear, reaching down to massage her aching calves again. Wearing those pumps the entire day was no laughing matter. "I was looking for some tips on handling the workload, but I guess I'll just have to learn as I go along!"

"Family emergency, eh?" she heard Len mutter quietly to himself. When he next spoke his voice was back to normal. "Yeah, I'm sure you can do it! If you have any problems you can come to me…or Rin," he added, "she's way better at organising things than I am. But I'm happy that you managed to find a job you're satisfied with. Rin said that you didn't seem to like your job at Mancy's very much while you were working there. She got it off your Facebook," he quickly clarified. Miku didn't know how she felt about this level of privacy intrusion, but it wasn't Len's fault – and anyway she guessed it was pretty normal to be snooped on by hackers when she was working for someone like Piko.

"Yeah, I didn't really like working at Mancy's…but then again I guess most people wouldn't want to work in sales. It's really hard, and how much you earn depends largely on how many sales you make. It didn't help that clothes are incredibly difficult to push out! Most people come in already knowing what they want or they're just there to take a look. And Mancy's clothes aren't that cheap, yet at the same time they aren't catering to high-end clientele so it's really hard to promote them," she sighed. But she perked up quickly. "It's okay though, since I'm not working there anymore. How did you find out that I'm working for Piko now though?" she asked, curious. He hadn't explained that part yet.

"Oh, word travels through the office quickly," Len's tone was dry. "It didn't take long before people started buzzing about Boss having a new personal assistant. I was pretty surprised when I found out! I mean, you two only reconciled yesterday," he mused. "But everyone knows that Piko can't function without an assistant because he's too busy, so in a way it's not shocking that he asked you for help. I guess he didn't have time to look for anyone else, plus he doesn't really trust people very easily."

"Do you trust people easily?" she asked, curious. Len seemed so friendly and open that she could hardly believe he had a single suspicious bone in his body – but that didn't make sense because he was an assassin, and she didn't think that assassins trusted other people quickly. There was a pause and she could practically feel Len thinking. "Oh, that was a stupid question to ask, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to," she hastily said, not wanting to put him in a spot or anything.

"No, it's fine. I don't mind talking about it," Len laughed again. The sound of his laughter always made her feel happier. It was just filled with so much carefree joy. "I guess? If you mean relatively then yeah, I trust people more easily than Piko or my sister do. I wouldn't say that I believe _really_ easily because in my line of work, trusting too much could get you killed…but I like to think that there are more good than bad people in this world. If you start thinking it's the other way, then you become paranoid all the time and it's a lot harder to enjoy life, so why restrict yourself that way?"

"True, I agree with that," she nodded vigorously. "Then do you trust me?" she asked playfully, just wondering about it. After all, they were already on the topic of trusting people. Len took in a deep breath and she thought she might have said something wrong. "Is this a sensitive topic?" she asked hesitantly – it was so hard for her to figure out what she ought not to say to Len. He wasn't like any other person she knew – not just because of his job, but also in terms of his personality. He was just so blasé about everything, which she in a way envied. She sometimes wished she could stop caring so much about everyone else and what people thought of her. It could get so suffocating at times.

"It isn't, it was just a little strange to hear you ask me that so suddenly," he explained. "Of course I trust you. You're the girl I like, aren't you?" his playful tone returned and she giggled, feeling a little embarrassed when he told her that so explicitly. It had been a while since anyone chased her so openly. "Though of course it would be different if you were like, an undercover cop or something. Like _way_ undercover. Then sadly, you'd have broken my trust," he let out an exaggerated sigh.

"I wish! It'd be more exciting than the life I'm leading now," she sighed in the same manner. Len chuckled, and she wondered where this man had been hiding when she was desperately single and practically yearning for someone to come and sweep her off her feet. If only she had met him years ago – oh, but he would have been killing people around then, right? She didn't know, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know either. "Anyway, where are you staying now? I'm just curious since you've sent me home before, so you know where I stay…I'd like to visit your house too!"

"Oh, Miku. That's sweet, but you can't come to my house because I don't have one," he snorted. "Because of my job, I move around really often. So it doesn't make sense for me to own any kind of property. As for where I'm staying now…well, that's a secret," he dramatically lowered his voice.

"But you just said you trust me!" she retorted, of course not meaning what she said. She totally understood why he wouldn't want to tell her – she bet he didn't want _anyone_ to visit him at all, since he faced such a risk of being caught by the authorities – but talking to Len just brought out a side of her she hadn't seen since her university days. It was good to feel young and mischievous again.

"Of course I do, but someone might follow you and find out where I am too, which is a risk that's too great for me to accept," he sounded dejected. "I'll just come out and meet you if you really want to see me. We have a month left till we depart so until then I can come and find you every day if you want. And when we're in Paris you'll _have_ to face me, even if you don't want to," he suddenly turned away from the phone and shouted something. She couldn't hear what he said but he sounded annoyed, whoever he was talking to. "Sorry, some asshole ran into me and didn't even bother to apologise," he huffed. "Teenagers these days…I have to go soon because I have something to take care of. You'll be okay, right?" he checked. "Don't stay up too late with the work Piko no doubt gave you. He's a bloody slave driver, I should know," he grumbled. "And just let me know if you ever want to meet up!"

"Will do!" she agreed enthusiastically. Len gave her a final word of farewell before he hung up, and she remained sitting there on the bed for the next five minutes, clutching her phone to her chest and smiling dreamily. Of course she was curious about what Len had to settle given that it was already pretty late by now, but she also knew what his job entailed and she didn't want to think too much in case Len was doing something she wouldn't be comfortable with. "I wonder what life would be like if I met you back then instead of Piko?" she asked aloud. Piko, the first guy she had ever wanted a stable relationship with, and Len, the mysterious stranger she met two nights ago at a speed-dating event.

It was so odd that they were both in her life now. Of course she didn't have any lingering feelings for Piko by this point, but seeing him every day…she just hoped it wouldn't dredge up old memories of the time they had spent together. She really wanted things between her and Len to work out. Those concerns Piko raised earlier about their relationship – they could always handle it when the time came.


	8. Chapter 8

Miku stared at the address Piko had sent her, wondering where on Earth this location was. Piko had told her that he would drop her a message every time he switched his office, and this morning she woke up to one of these messages. But...she had never even heard of this place before?

"Siwon Drive?" she muttered, popping a slice of apple into her mouth. "Is it part of Chinatown or something?" the name did sound very Asian, and it would make sense that she didn't know of the place in that case since she didn't go to Chinatown often. Luckily she woke up early today. She didn't manage to sleep very well last night, in part due to all the caffeine she ingested trying to sort out the documents before morning came. At least she was now done with her first secretarial assignment.

Still munching absentmindedly on her apple, she opened up her phone's map application and searched for "Siwon Drive" – to her surprise, the name came up blank. The nearest Siwon Drive she could find was in a whole other country. She scowled – now she was absolutely certain that Piko, even being a businessman who often had to travel overseas, didn't mean for her to leave the country. She ought to give her boss a call and ask him where exactly he wanted her to go.

Swallowing the apple slice, she dialled his number and set it on loudspeaker, letting the phone ring as she bustled around the kitchen, looking for some fresh milk. She had restocked the kitchen on Sunday since it was her turn this week to pay for the groceries – the three girls in this apartment had worked out a roster of sorts, which was good since without it they'd probably be out of everything. But she couldn't find her milk anywhere. Had Luka finished the entire carton without telling her?

Speaking of her roommate, she hadn't seen her this morning either. She stayed up late enough to see Luka coming back at three in the morning, and Luka spoke just a little bit to her before she crashed on her bed. When Miku woke up early this morning, she saw that Luka was already out of the house too. The poor girl had been taking a whole bunch of morning shifts lately – Miku hoped that she wouldn't wear herself out. She ought to get Luka some tonic drinks or something.

"Utatane Piko here," the ringing suddenly stopped, replaced by a familiar crisp voice. Miku dashed back to the table, staring down at the screen. "Oh, and by the way Miku, next time don't call me unless it's absolutely necessary..." Piko's voice changed subtly, sounding just a little bit more casual. "This is the number I use for business contacts so I get lots of important calls on this line. Anyway, what's the matter? Are you uncertain about the location of Siwon Drive?" he asked.

She blinked. He had figured out the problem even before she said anything to him. He truly was smart. "Yes...? My Maps tells me it's in another country. You don't intend to send me there now, right?" she checked just to be sure. After all, you could never be too certain around Piko.

"At first I wanted to, but I changed my mind..." the offhanded way he said it made her gape at the phone for a moment. "I figured that you'd never be able to get here in time since for now we still haven't set up your employee pass, so you wouldn't have access to our corporate jets. It's all right, we'll get you profiled soon since Rin is in the process of setting up your other pass anyway," Piko rattled off, ignoring the fact that she had been stunned silent. "Anyway, Siwon Drive is the old name of this location. I forgot you wouldn't know. Search for "Greybird Road", it should come up."

She did as he said, and her Maps application told her that it was just two kilometres away from her house, where the old Eagle Private Bank headquarters used to be. "Have you found it?" he asked. She made a sound of assent. "Okay, good. Come down here as soon as you can. I'm not sending you for work today since I'm preparing to leave for an international conference soon...this is stupid, why can't they just use video calling?" he muttered, probably more to himself than to her. "But what that means is that I won't need your services for today. I'll be back here within three days or so, but until then I still want you to make yourself useful. Someone will be waiting for you at Siwon Drive."

"What do you mean, make myself useful –" but before she could finish saying what she wanted to, Piko hung up on her. She sighed, locking the phone and putting it in her pocket. Well, that was it then. She'd just have to suck it up and face whatever Piko wanted her to do later. She hoped it wouldn't be too difficult. Sometimes he seemed to forget that she had never done all this before.

Siwon Drive – or, as it was now known, Greybird Road – was close enough to her apartment. She could just take a bus instead of cabbing down. In fact, if she finished her food and got ready quick enough, she could even walk over...though the idea of walking around in pumps didn't sound very appealing. It was a nice day for a walk though, she thought as she looked out of the kitchen window. The sunlight was watery but there was no sign of rain. The air outside ought to be pleasantly cool.

Maybe she would just wear flats and walk over to the next road. It wasn't like anyone other than Piko paid her much attention yesterday, anyway. As a personal assistant she noticed that her presence was virtually zero. But that wasn't a bad thing, since she was still so new to all this. And if Piko wasn't around, she supposed there wouldn't be anyone else who cared much about her attire.

* * *

It really was a nice day for a walk. A gentle breeze had started up outside and a quick glance at her phone told her that she was still pretty early. The official company hours were from nine to six, and right now it was only a quarter past eight. She would have plenty of time to walk over.

She had left the giant folder at home since Piko wasn't around to receive it anyway. In all honesty if she had known that Piko wouldn't be present today, she probably wouldn't have bothered to finish sorting out the documents last night. She let out a sigh – maybe this was why Piko didn't tell her about his overseas trip until today. She glanced at her Maps application and saw that she had to make a left turn at the main road, which was fast approaching. Then she just had to keep on walking along the main road until she got to her destination. It really wasn't that far from her place.

"Hey, Miku!" she heard a voice calling her name and turned to see Len waving, jogging down the street. She blinked, surprised – she definitely hadn't expected to see him here. "I thought it might be you!" he exclaimed when he reached her, giving her a sheepish smile. "I mean, how often do you see people with waist-length teal hair, right?" he asked, tilting his head. She looked him up and down – Len was dressed in a grey sweatshirt and comfy looking track pants. He certainly didn't look like he was dressed up to go anywhere special. Had he...come all the way down here just to see her?

Unlikely, but it was a nice thought nevertheless. "Yeah, sadly teal is a really uncommon hair colour. It's a real pity, I think the colour is gorgeous," she sighed, tugging at a lock of her hair. She had chosen to put it up in a ponytail today, since it didn't appear like she would be doing any official work. "What are you doing here, Len?" she asked, curious. "You don't happen to live around this area, do you?" he looked like he had just gotten out of bed. Len just laughed and shook his head.

"I'm going to work," he told her. He noticed her flinch and hurried to explain himself. "I don't mean my usual work. I have to file paperwork and train as well, so yeah…it's not like Piko uses me for my primary set of skills very often, so when I'm off-duty I'm obliged to settle administrative matters too. He hired me since I'm a man with many talents," he smiled wryly. She stared at him, impressed.

"You should give me some tips! I stayed up late trying to sort out a folder for Piko," and right on cue she yawned, as though she was unconsciously trying to demonstrate how tired she was. "Oh, sorry," she promptly covered her mouth. Len looked rather concerned, though. "Don't worry, I'm okay! Just a little sleepy," she grinned. "Anyway, it was a lot of tedious work. I wouldn't call it hard but it definitely was time-consuming," she shook her head. "How does one finish paperwork quickly?"

"You get better the more you do it," Len stretched in a way that reminded her of a cat. Actually, Len did sort of remind her of a cat. He had this languid way of speaking and moving that bordered on laziness. It really was difficult to imagine that this was a person whose main job involved killing others. "Since you're here...I'm guessing that you're going to the Siwon Drive office?" he asked.

She nodded. "Actually, why do you all call it Siwon Drive...?" she asked, curious. "Piko said that its name now is Greybird Road. I didn't even know where Siwon Drive was, I had to call him just to ask about it and he seemed a little annoyed to be interrupted while working because of that..." she might be reading too much into Piko's tone and choice of words, but he did seem to be in a rush.

"Piko is always annoyed when he's working, it's nothing new. He might not show it to outsiders but he's really the boss from hell towards his employees," Len rolled his eyes. "It's like dealing with someone who has perpetual PMS. As for why we call it Siwon Drive, it's just because we're used to referring to it by that name," Len shrugged. "We've been here since before the name was changed so we just stayed with the old name. The change of name to Greybird Road was pretty recent, if I'm not wrong? Like around three years ago. It changed after Eagle Private Bank moved out of there."

"Oh, so the office was there even before the bank left?" she asked, surprised. Miku read before in the news that Eagle Private Bank was owned by some estate in Italy, and the government kicked the bank out of the country after investigations indicated that it was involved in international money-laundering activities. Len nodded, glancing around furtively before speaking quietly to her.

"The office was actually part of the bank, but of course it was underground and unlike the one we took you to the other time, this one isn't accessible through the upper floors. So you can only get in through a hidden entrance, which is practically impossible for first-timers to find. I guess Piko said that someone would be waiting for you at the entrance, yeah? I was showed around the first time I came here too," he smiled, reminiscing the past. Miku just nodded, thinking over Len's words.

It was interesting, how the company opted to hide its offices. To build one right underneath a bank? She was sure there were reasons for choosing such a strange location, but she couldn't think of any. "Are you going to show me around too?" she asked, glancing up at the man walking beside her. He looked at her, his blue eyes widening slightly. Suddenly, he reminded her of an excited puppy.

"If you want me to, then sure! Why not?" he laughed, that same rich, warm sound she found so cheerful. "Then I won't have to work…I mean, yeah, it's an honour to show you around," he winked at her and she felt her face warming. Len really was charming. It made her wonder if he had a lot of girlfriends before her – she knew he claimed that no one wanted to date him the very first night they met, but he was so good at making her blush that she couldn't just believe what he said. And he was so handsome too…she was absolutely certain that he had dated before. But how many before her?

It was an uncomfortable thought to have, and she didn't dare to ask either since she didn't want to come across as jealous or anything. "How long have you been working for Piko?" she changed the subject to distract herself from her thoughts. Len raised an eyebrow and gave her a funny look, at the same time holding out a hand to block her from taking another step – a car whooshed right past her and she stiffened, having failed to notice that they had walked all the way to a traffic junction.

"You need to watch where you're going! Even I would get hurt pretty badly if a car hit me at that speed," he tutted and shook his head, a small smile on his face. "As for how long I've been working for Piko…well, it's been some time, a few years I guess. But I won't be around for much longer," the smile on his face slipped a bit but he brightened up quickly. Still, she noticed the brief grimace and that made her curious about his situation. "I can't wait to leave, honestly. It's time for me to find an employer who would actually appreciate my hard work and reward me accordingly," he sighed loudly.

"Um…I'm sure you will find one!" she didn't know what else to say. He was an assassin – she didn't think there would be many people out there who wanted to hire him. Would she ever want the services of a killer-for-hire? There wasn't anyone she hated enough to pay for an assassin…but then again, she was just a normal person who accidentally got pulled into this strange world of business and murder. Who knew what went through the minds of corporate heirs like Utatane Piko?

Len grinned at her. "When you say it that way, I really do believe it," he chirped. "You don't look very convinced, but I appreciate your words anyway," the light turned green, signalling it was okay for them to cross, and they began to cross the road. "Believe it or not, it's quite easy to find someone who is willing to pay for my services. There's lots of people in the world who hate another enough to want them dead, and professional killers are pretty rare so it's easy to come by new jobs. It's a lot rarer for us to be bonded to one employer the way I am…but I had to for a couple of reasons," he shrugged, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. "But if you don't want me to do this job anymore, I can give it up," he perked up, giving her a sweet smile. Her heart skipped a beat at his words.

He was going to kill her at this rate – why was he so darn _cute_? "Really?" she exclaimed. Her voice came out sounding like a squeak. Len laughed and nodded, holding a hand out to her with that lovely smile still on his face, and hesitantly she slipped her fingers between his. His hand felt like it was made for hers – a little calloused, but his fingers were long and nimble and they fit the spaces between her own fingers perfectly. "I'm not saying that I disapprove of your work…okay, well I _kind_ of do because it's so dangerous and ethically questionable," she admitted, "but if you want to go on with it I guess I won't say anything? As long as you don't give me any case specifics," it was her turn to laugh, though her laughter was more nervous than light-hearted. Len nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry, when it comes to you I'll try to keep my professional and personal life as separate as possible," he started swinging their arms and she giggled, suddenly reminded of her childhood. Being with Len just made her feel so young. Well, she _was_ young, but it had been a while since she felt like her age. She was only in her mid-twenties but she felt anything but youthful, so burdened by her responsibilities that having fun was something she had almost forgotten how to do. "You're like this little ray of sunshine in my life, Miku," he suddenly sounded very serious, and when she stared at him the look on his face was completely devoid of humour. She recalled the moment right after she saw him kill those two men hunting him – his expression had been like that too… "I don't want you to know about my job or what I'm like at work because you're the only one who reminds me that there's a life beyond my career. That every day doesn't have to be filled with fear and death and suspicion. So please stay this way forever, okay?" he sounded so serious that she could only nod.

It was odd to see Len so grave. Maybe she just didn't know him well enough yet, but this solemn expression on his face just wasn't what she was accustomed to. But the moment passed and he was back to his smiling self once more. "Look, we're here. It's quite near your apartment, isn't it?" they came to a stop right in front of an obviously disused building, a "For Rent" sign dangling outside the shuttered front entrance. She frowned as she looked it over, Len's earlier heartfelt plea forgotten for a second – the place looked like it hadn't been used for quite some time. "No one rented this office after Eagle Private Bank was evicted, so it's been this way ever since," he explained for her benefit. "It used to look a lot better in the day. Now it's…well, no one wants this place. People say there's bad karma here, and whoever owns this office space will be cursed with a failing business. Of course, I don't believe that. And neither does our boss," he made a face, staring at the old building too.

Miku felt like the place was in dire need of a touch-up. There were lots of graffiti spray-painted on the greying walls, and the paint was peeling in places. It stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other buildings in the area. "Doesn't anyone own the building at all?" she turned around, facing Len. Len was still looking thoughtfully at the former bank headquarters. "I mean…if it's so rundown and no one owns it at all, then wouldn't the town council have done something about it by now?"

"I think our boss owns it. But I'm not sure about that. To be honest I don't really know – all I'm certain of is that no one besides our organisation is aware of the underground office, not even the government officials. Or maybe they know and they were bribed not to say anything. That may have something to do with why the council has yet to do anything about this place. The other businesses in the area have filed complaints a couple of times, but nothing was ever done to the building and after a while, they just gave up…I think this place is what makes Siwon Drive so special, actually. It's like a trademark of sorts," Len shrugged. "Someone ought to be here to receive you…oh, look!"

He gestured towards the side of the building. Miku looked in that direction and saw someone coming out from behind the wall, heading towards them. It was a tall man with vivid pink hair that reminded her of Luka's, and sharp green eyes that almost seemed to glow. He was so handsome that it seemed almost unreal, and he moved with a catlike grace that made her feel extremely envious. "Ah, _capo_ , it's good to see you!" Len called cheerfully, waving at the stranger with his free hand. The man gave him a curt nod, his gaze flitting between her and Len, and Miku was suddenly very aware of the fact that they were still holding hands. "I'm surprised that you're here today. Weren't you in Russia or something?" Len tilted his head, asking him curiously when the man was close enough.

The stranger's face was completely expressionless. "The boss asked me to return. He said that he had business in Russia and he'll see to our…allies personally. Of course I would have liked to stay, but he threatened to shoot me if I didn't leave so…here I am. He did tell me to take good care of his new secretary, however," the man glanced at her. "I assume you are the secretary. Your name is Hatsune Miku, correct?" she nodded, gaping at him. The man had a smooth, musical voice that just added on to his refined appearance. She could hardly imagine someone so elegant working for…well, Piko.

"This is Yamaha Yuma," Len introduced him. Yuma nodded in assent. He seemed to be a man of few words. "He's one of our boss's right-hand men. You'll meet the other three in due time – be thankful that you met Yuma first, he's the nicest of them all," Len added. Miku flinched. It wasn't that Yuma was mean or anything – he seemed to be very polite, in fact – but if this was nice, Miku did not want to meet the other three. "Aw, are you scared?" Len teased. "Don't be! If they do anything to you I'll shoot them in the head," he promised. His cheery voice seemed at odds with the dark threat.

Yuma didn't appear to be taking Len seriously. "You know you can't murder any of us. You won't get paid if you do," he responded, voice even. Len sighed, muttering something about Yuma ruining all the fun. Yuma turned to her, face still carefully blank. "I'll be showing you how to get to the office. You'll need the employee pass, but Boss said that you have yet to receive one from Rin so until then you will have to borrow one to access the building. Len should be willing to lend you his if you need to come here for any reason," Len nodded in agreement, and Yuma continued. "But if you borrow someone else's pass, make sure you are always accompanied by that person. You might need their fingerprints or retina scans to access certain locations, so it's better to be safe than sorry. Now follow me," the pink haired man turned sharply and strode off, Miku and Len hurrying behind him.

They were led behind the office, where there was an empty concrete lot. There were weeds growing between the cracks in the floor, and a single tree grew over the lot, looking rather sad standing all by itself. The branches seemed to slope downwards, as though depressed. Len was still holding her hand, which she was grateful for since the eerie atmosphere was beginning to unnerve her a little. The lot behind the vacant building seemed to be part of a completely different world, like they had stepped through a portal into another dimension and the three of them were the only ones there.

The gentle breeze swept fallen leaves across the grey concrete, and even the sunlight here seemed to be weaker, even watery. Len began to whistle merrily, a tuneless tune that seemed out-of-place in this barren landscape. Yuma walked to the other end of the lot, where the lone tree was standing. Miku watched as the man felt along the thick trunk, searching for something – a few moments later he applied pressure on a certain part of the tree and there was a loud, audible 'click' sound. Unable to help herself, she gasped, looking around for the source of the noise, but she saw nothing.

"Look downwards," Len stopped whistling and gently turned her around so that she was looking behind them. To her surprise, part of the concrete lot was collapsing in on itself, revealing a small square hole in the ground with a flight of stairs that descended downwards. Yuma walked back to them and swept out a hand, indicating that she should go first. She swallowed, nervous, and looked at Len, who nodded encouragingly at her. Slightly reassured by him, she took a deep breath and placed one shaky foot forward, quietly thanking God when nothing sprang out to attack her.

"Be careful," Yuma called as she continued onwards into the dark, "there aren't any lights and the stairs go on for a while. If you slip it will be an uncomfortable fall," he cautioned. She swallowed and decided to hold out her hands, using the walls as support. She made every step carefully, not wanting to trip and roll down the stairs. Len was following closely behind her, and the quiet sounds of his breathing calmed her, preventing her from feeling too nervous. Yuma then said he was going in, and shortly after that announcement was made, the entire stairway was plunged into darkness.

* * *

"I don't think that's necessary," Len was scowling up at the taller man. Yuma had his arms folded across his chest, and he was looking calmly down at the assassin. Miku just stared at them both, not daring to intervene but worried that it would come to blows. Len definitely didn't seem too happy.

"Piko and I feel that she must learn. How is she to go to Paris without knowledge of how to use a gun?" Yuma stated, causing Len's frown to deepen. "What if you two become separated while in a dangerous situation? Paris does not belong to any party involved. And the French do not care for the affairs of our _famiglia_ or theirs, as long as we do not damage the property. No one will be there to save her should you two be separated. Are you going to leave her with no way to defend herself?"

"Rin will be going. She can take care of her. There's no need for her to learn how to operate a gun. Such a weapon is too filthy for her to touch," Len's vehemence took her by surprise and she looked closely at him, wondering why he was so agitated. His expression was deadly serious, one of the rare times she saw him this way. Yuma shook his head and sighed, turning and catching her eye.

"Miku," he addressed her directly. She jumped. "Do you personally wish to learn how to use a gun? Our assassin here seems to think that he and his sister are enough to protect you during the mission our boss has assigned to you. Personally, I think they will not be enough. Rin is more of an observer than a fighter…she is good at self-defence, but she cannot stand up against too many at once. And Len himself will not always be present. To send you, a single girl without any knowledge on how to use the weapons we are famous for…it would be sheer idiocy," he explained, very matter-of-factly.

Len was staring at her too, expression still grave. She had no idea what he might be thinking at that moment. "I…don't really want to learn," she admitted. "If I learn how to use a gun, it kind of means that I learn how to kill someone, right…?" she glanced at Len again, but his face hadn't changed – he appeared to be waiting for her to finish speaking. She swallowed. Yuma was staring patiently at her. "But if you say that I ought to know how to defend myself then…I guess I should learn at least how to aim and shoot without missing completely," she finally whispered. She didn't understand why she would have to learn how to use a weapon – Len and the others said that it ought to be a simple job, that she wouldn't be anything more than arm candy – but she guessed that anything which gave her an edge in Paris would be useful. There was nothing wrong with being able to protect herself, right?

Yuma exhaled in apparent relief. "Thank you for being reasonable. Then I will show you the basics of gun usage. Len, go do what you were tasked with doing. You eliminated the traitor, so submit the report to the relevant office so that you can claim your salary," Yuma added, gesturing to Miku to follow him. She trailed along behind the pink haired man, giving Len a parting glance as she left – he met her gaze, the earlier anger he displayed while confronting Yuma already gone from his face. He smiled at her and waved goodbye as Yuma turned a corner, and she waved back before hurrying on. Yuma's longer stride made it so that she had to brisk walk just to keep up with him. She didn't dare to say anything to him since he didn't seem like the kind who would make small talk, so she kept quiet.

Len's agitation was uncharacteristic of him, or at least what she knew of him so far. He seemed like one of the most laidback, relaxed people she had ever met, so it was shocking to see him frustrated over her learning how to use a gun. Was he really so against her learning? It couldn't be that bad, right? She didn't even intend to use this knowledge while in Paris – she shouldn't have to since they all said it was an easy job…but Yuma made a really convincing case. Well, in the end she might not even be a good shot anyway, so Len didn't have to worry about her using a weapon. Miku thought it was likely she would end up missing everything she tried to aim at. She had tried archery before once while in school, and during that time she realised that she was a truly terrible shot.

After she stumbled out of the dark stairway into the bright lights of the office, she was remarkably disoriented. It took some time before she managed to get out of the stairway – Yuma had not been exaggerating when he said the stairs went on for a while – and she was so glad to be out of that tiny, claustrophobic space. The office had fewer layers of security compared to the one she was brought to the other day, requiring only an employee pass, which Len provided, and a fingerprint and retina scan. Once they were past the three doors, she found herself in a cold, high-ceilinged atrium, shaped like a pentagon, with a door in each of the five walls. Yuma led them through the one directly opposite her, which ended up leading to a room filled with grenades, flash bombs and a vast array of firearms. To her, the sight was terrifying and it took some time before she could breathe normally.

It was in this weapons room that Len and Yuma began their argument over whether or not she ought to learn how to use a gun. Len kept saying that there was no need for her to pick up such a skill, but Yuma advocated for otherwise, adding that it was on their boss's orders that she learn as well. Now Miku understood what Piko meant by making herself "useful", but she wasn't too happy about this.

"It's for your own good. Len is mollycoddling you. If you are to work for our boss, you _must_ know how to operate a gun. It's something all of our _famiglia_ know how to do," Yuma suddenly spoke, as though he could sense her thoughts. Maybe he could? "Just because you have not yet joined does not mean you are exempt from that. Knowing how to operate a gun is an essential survival skill."

" _Famiglia_ …" Miku echoed, thinking about the word. She had heard this term being used often during the fight between Yuma and Len, and she wondered what it meant. It was another language she knew, and if she hazarded a guess she thought it meant 'family', but why would Yuma speak of family with regards to Piko? She doubted they were related. And all this talk about her joining this _famiglia_ made her uneasy. If it really meant family, then why was he talking about _her_ being a part of them? And why was Len not a part of it, as he had vehemently stated while they were arguing?

"Yes. _Famiglia_. A concept that we hold more sacred than even our very selves," the man in front of her spoke quietly. "I will not say more about it for now, as it is not yet time for you to know. And as our assassin says, it would be best for you not to know so soon either. Better that you have a good understanding of our world and how it operates before you make a decision – but that is why you should learn how to use a gun," he continued, as though he was still arguing with Len. "You might find that you take to it like a duck to the water. You might then desire to actually be a part of this."

"Part of what?" she asked, confused. Yuma was an incredibly cryptic man. He didn't seem to be purposely mysterious or anything like that – she just got the feeling that Yamaha Yuma operated on a slightly different wavelength from her. And from the rest of the populace in general. Though she thought that he might get along with Rin. "You and Len kept discussing the _famiglia_ , but I have no idea what it even is, let alone consider whether or not I want to be a part of it. What's it about?"

"The _famiglia_ ," Yuma stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Miku rolled her eyes, knowing she shouldn't have expected any other kind of answer, and she was thankful that she was behind Yuma so that he wouldn't witness her exasperation. If he was trying to annoy her on purpose, then he was doing a really good job of that. "It is frustrating for you now, but during Paris I am sure you will find the answers to all your questions. But I would caution against questioning too much and digging too deeply," he suddenly glanced back at her, his green eyes narrowed, "because once you find out too much about the world Len lives in, you will not be able to leave. And then you will have to make a decision about whether or not you want to survive in a group with us, or by yourself."

She was not liking the sound of this, so she decided to change the subject. Surely there was some topic she could bring up that even Yuma couldn't turn all morbid and unnerving. "Why did Len refer to you as a _capo_?" she finally asked, remembering the strange greeting Len gave the man when he first spotted him. "What does that even mean?" again, it sounded like a foreign language to her.

" _Capo_ is short for _caporegime_ ," he explained without pause. "It refers to…I suppose you could call it a general. _Caporegimes_ in a _famiglia_ are in charge of a group of soldiers. We are the right-hand men of the boss, and we report our movements and patrols to him. In effect, we are his eyes and his ears. Does that answer your question?" he asked. Miku made a sound of assent, thinking over what he had told her. It appeared that this family he was a part of was highly structured, with him reporting to the boss…which she supposed was Piko. Piko's mysterious underground organisation was getting more and more intriguing. She wondered how Len fit into this entire rigid system they had.

"Is Len one of your soldiers? Does he report to you?" she asked. But that didn't seem quite right. The way Len talked about it – not that he really spoke about his job that often – made it sound like he reported directly to Piko. Yet he was never referred to as a _capo_ or anything like that. Whenever one of Piko's employees spoke of Len, they always used the term 'the assassin'. Yuma shook his head.

"Len is…special. He is the assassin, not one of our _famiglia_. He reports directly to Piko," he confirmed what she was just thinking. "Not all of us trust him. Most of us do by this point, but…not everyone does. He works only because of his contract, unlike the rest of us. Once his contract ends, there is a chance that he would work against us. It is difficult to have faith in a man who can be bought over by money," Yuma's voice was flat and unemotional. He sounded like he was discussing the weather.

"I don't think Len would betray someone so easily, even after his contract ends. He's a nice person, despite being a paid killer," Miku defended him. She truly did believe that Len was a good person – even after his deal with Piko was over, she was sure that he wouldn't do anything to harm his former employer. But Yuma just shook his head again, disagreeing with her. She frowned at his back.

"You say that because you do not know him. I've been working with him for six years so far, and trust me when I say that you will never meet someone else quite as coldblooded as Kagamine Len," he cautioned. "His set of morals are…questionable. He does not kill children. But beyond that, he is without mercy. He has no conscience to speak of. If you were to find out what he was truly like, you might reconsider being so close to him. Being with him marks you as a target for one of the many who despise him. He is the best assassin in the world, and…it is lonely, to be at the very top," Yuma added softly, and she thought she could hear something almost like sympathy in his voice.

She didn't know what to say. She couldn't reconcile that image Yuma painted – a heartless assassin without conscience – with what she knew of Len. The Len she spoke to and laughed with was nice and sweet, and he obviously cared about her. How could someone "without mercy", as Yuma put it, treat her in such a way? They would have to be a really good actor to be so different around her. And she didn't get the feeling that Len was acting. Everything he said and did felt extremely genuine.

Before she had to rack her brains to think of something to say, Yuma stopped in front of a metal door, turning to face her. "This is our shooting range, where we have target practice," he informed her, no sign of their previous conversation on his face. "You will be spending the next two working days here, and our boss would like to come and witness your performance when he is back from his overseas conference. I would urge you to master the gun as soon as possible…he has high expectations of all his employees, and you would not like it if he were to take a personal interest in your training," he warned. She thought she saw a light smirk flit across Yuma's face at those words, but she was unsure about that because the smirk disappeared as quickly as it came. "Shall we go in?" he asked, turning and opening the door for her. She saw through the entrance a firing range, currently deserted.

"All right," she gulped, and the two of them entered the room. The door slowly swung shut behind them with an ominous clang and, as Yuma went to a nearby rack and retrieved earmuffs, goggles and some sort of handgun, she began to wonder what exactly she had gotten herself into.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** _Mentions of gore and violence but nothing too graphic, disturbing crime-related themes as well. Reader discretion is advised._ _Will consider changing the rating of the story to M (for violence and crime) in the future._

* * *

"It is an extension of your arm. Don't flinch when you pull the trigger – that affects the direction the bullet takes," Yuma explained patiently as they looked at the target she had been shooting at just now. Few of the bullets had actually hit the target at all, and none of them were even near the centre.

Len was watching from the sides, his expression impassive. Miku knew that he wasn't happy about her learning how to use a gun – he had said so himself yesterday, when he walked her back home from the underground complex. But he added that since she was the one who wanted to learn, he wouldn't say anything more about the matter – he didn't want to interfere with her decisions. Yuma also asked him to accompany her back here for the next two days, to which he had reluctantly agreed.

Miku sighed and slid the earmuffs she wore down her neck, handing the gun back to a waiting Yuma as he allowed her to go for lunch. This was her second day of gun practice, and she was actually a little surprised by how patient Yuma was with her. Maybe that was why Len said that he was the nicest…what was Yuma's rank again? _Caporegime_? Yeah, the nicest _capo_ they had. She didn't think she wanted to meet the other three though, since Yuma was still intimidating despite his patience with her.

Len came over to her, holding a sandwich. "Come on, eat up," he offered, "training is tough. We don't want you fainting halfway now, you might injure someone," he grinned, ruffling her hair when she took the sandwich from him. She thanked him, waving his hand away from her hair, and he let out a soft chuckle. "By the way, Rin called and said she'll have your pass done up by tomorrow, so you won't need me to access the offices anymore after that," he glanced at Yuma, who was setting the handgun she had been practicing with down on a table. "Piko should be back by then too…he'll want to see your progress with a gun. Please try to at least hit the target by the time he's back!"

His tone was light-hearted, but his expression looked serious. Miku frowned. "Why, it's not like he's really good with a gun or anything, right?" she bit off part of the sandwich. It was ham and cheese, and it was actually pretty good despite being a little cold. Len must have taken it out of a refrigerator just recently. Len gave her a strange look at that, and her frown deepened. "What? He's a businessman, isn't he? And he has so many people protecting him, like you and Yuma. Would he actually know how to use a gun?"

"You underestimate him, Miku," Len laughed, this time sounding almost nervous. "Piko's a really, really good shot…I think as good as I am," he shrugged, "and I've been training for years. He works best with long-range firearms, the further the better. I guess that's where we differ, since I'm good enough with both short and long distance firearms," he exhaled, glancing at Yuma again. Miku was surprised – she never knew that Utatane Piko was actually capable of using a gun. The silver haired flirt with the charming grin and sly words, being able to shoot? It was difficult to believe.

"I guess I'll have to see it to believe it," she mused, taking another bite out of her sandwich. Len nodded, placing his hands in his pockets. He was dressed in all black today, and when she first met him outside her apartment he was wearing the hood of his pullover up, hiding his face. He had also been carrying a black, rectangular case, slung across his back. She didn't know what was in there, but shortly after they entered the underground compound he kept it away somewhere so she didn't get a chance to see what was inside it. He hadn't wanted to tell her either, saying that it was a secret.

"Miku, why don't you take a look around here since you're on break now?" Yuma's voice rang out a little distance behind her. She turned around and saw the _capo_ watching her and Len, his arms folded across his chest. "You didn't really get a chance to look around yesterday, and once Ian is back from China you won't have a chance to wander around so freely…this compound isn't under my control, I'm only looking after it for now since he's overseas on business," he added. Miku frowned, not quite understanding everything he just said. Who was Ian? Why did they always have to bring up new people?

"Ian is another one of the _caporegimes_ ," Len explained, seeing the puzzled look on her face. "Each _capo_ looks after a few of the underground compounds we have scattered throughout the city. This particular one is under Ian's control. Ian is…well, he's very aggressive, let's just leave it at that," Len didn't elaborate any further, and she decided that she had heard enough to guess what kind of man Ian was. Yuma nodded, walking towards her and Len and pushing them out of the room.

"What's _he_ up to?" Miku asked Len as Yuma shut the door firmly behind them. Len shrugged, tugging at the collar of his pullover. He had his hair down today, and she noticed that it was just a little bit longer than Rin's hair, going past his collarbones. Actually, now that he wasn't wearing his hood up and she was no longer focused on gun practice, she could see that he looked really tired.

"Beats me. Yuma likes to be alone. He's a really extreme introvert, I think just being around people exhausts him," he turned away and started heading down the passageway, Miku walking beside him while eating her sandwich. "I'll just show you around, I guess. There's not much to see, since Ian's expertise leans more towards weaponry and combat, so it's mostly firearm storage and _soldato_ barracks here…and no one is around since their _capo_ is overseas. I guess that's why Boss sent you here, along with the fact that this place is near your house," Len seemed to be thinking out loud.

Miku thought that Len didn't just look tired, he sounded tired too. Though this morning on the way to the underground office he was his usual cheerful self, smiling at her and laughing as he talked, there was something almost subdued about him compared to yesterday. "Len, did you sleep late last night?" she asked, placing one hand on his shoulder to stop him from walking on. At her touch, he noticeably stiffened and for a moment, he didn't react. Then slowly, he turned around to face her.

There was a small smile on his face. "Yeah, I did. I went to visit Miki," his voice was quiet. "I spent a good part of the night with her, helping her to clear up some of her mess, so…I didn't get a lot of sleep. I'm a little tired," he admitted. She frowned – his lethargy was slightly worrying, but a good night's rest would probably get him back to normal. "Don't worry about me!" he beamed. "I'm used to pulling late nights, I just need to sleep for a while and I'll be okay again. Worry about yourself, you need to be able to impress Piko by the time you return otherwise he'll scold you," Len tutted.

She sighed. "I don't know if I'm any good at this," she admitted. "Yuma makes it look so easy…and I haven't seen _you_ shooting, but I bet you're really good at it too. I'm just scared of the recoil! I keep thinking that the bullet will ricochet and hit me or something!" she grimaced. Len looked amused.

"Don't worry, no one is expecting you to become an expert marksman within three days," he reassured her. "I don't even like the fact that you're learning this, which you already know. But if you want to nothing I say will be able to stop you," he exhaled. "So I guess I'll tell you a few things, though Yuma already mentioned them before…remember that the gun is a part of you, it's an extension of your arm. Don't stare at the target, look at the front sight, and…squeeze the trigger, don't just jerk it. That's really all I can say! The rest is just constant practice and muscle memory."

When he put it that way, it sounded so easy. She was pretty sure it wasn't that simple. "Thanks," she sighed too, scratching her head. "Oh well, at least I don't always just miss the target. It's always goes too low…" Len was walking again, and she fell into step beside him, looking around. This complex was nothing like the one she went to the first time. The other one was clearly an office, just located underground – this compound was more…natural? At times, the walls changed from concrete or cement to the packed earth of caverns, and she could occasionally hear the dripping of water from somewhere far away. No wonder Len said that it was only used for storage and as army barracks.

"Then aim higher," Len offered, somewhat unhelpfully. He saw the look on her face and chuckled. "I can't say anything more than that, Miku," he ruffled her hair again, ignoring her protests. She had tied her hair up into a bun today, but it was getting messy because of him and the earmuffs she had to wear while practicing. "If you're hitting too low, then go higher. If you're hitting too high, go lower – it really is that simple. There's not much I can say besides practice…and I'd actually prefer it if you didn't practice too much," he added. There was a steeliness in his voice that she had never heard before.

"But Len, why are you so against me learning how to use a gun?" she asked, just curious. She never got around to asking him why yesterday. She could sort of guess from his argument with Yuma, but she wanted to hear it directly from him. Len glanced at her, his hand reaching out towards the door right ahead of them. He looked hesitant, clearly wondering whether he ought to say anything, but eventually he closed his eyes and shook his head, seeming almost resigned. He turned the doorknob.

"Nothing good ever comes out of learning how to kill someone," he muttered. "Nothing. The thrill of power that flows through you when you take your first shot, when you realise that _you_ are the difference between life and death…it's like a drug, and like any drug you need more and more to get the same high you did the previous time. It's like heroin," he lifted his gaze, giving her a bitter smile. "Why do I kill? It's the only thing I know how to do. I was taught as a child how to kill, how to master the art of death so that to me, it becomes nothing more than a job. Life doesn't really mean anything to me anymore, and I want out," he fell silent for a moment. She watched him, almost choking – she felt like her chest was clenching, something fisting her heart and rendering her unable to breathe.

Suddenly, he smiled. "I'm sorry. Did I scare you? I'm not normally like that," he laughed, looking away from her. "Forget about what I said, it's something that Rin and I were talking about way back in the past and your question just sort of made me remember that…anyway, I just don't think you should learn because I'm more than enough to protect you in Paris, don't you think?" when he shot her a jaunty wink there was no sign of the haunted expression he had been wearing just moments ago.

"No, no, I'm fine," she said quickly, maybe just a little too quickly. He stared at her for a while and her heart continued to contract, until it felt like she was on the verge of being overwhelmed. There was such raw pain in his words. She couldn't pretend that he didn't say what he did just now. What Yuma told her about Len being a merciless assassin just seemed incredibly far from the truth. Someone who talked about murder with such genuine self-hatred couldn't possibly be heartless…

"I'm glad that you're not scared of me…" his next words were spoken quietly. Her eyes widened as he smiled and, for a few quick seconds, he rested his fingers against her cheek. Then he turned and went through the door, holding it open for her. He was back to his jovial self. "Come on, I'll show you Ian's main office," there was a playful glint in his eyes. "Let you have an idea of what the mysterious, violent _capo_ looks like. He's actually surprisingly handsome. Too bad no woman wants to be near a man who has obvious anger issues," he snorted. She stepped through the door, forcing herself not to think about what Len said for now. He seemed determined not to linger on this topic any longer.

* * *

Piko pressed his fingertips together, staring at the man as he struggled and flailed, choking. "Let him up," he spoke, nodding towards his _soldato_. They roughly grabbed his shoulders, hoisting him up, gasping and spluttering. Piko approached the man, who glared at him with eyes full of hatred.

"I'll never tell you anything, not even if you kill me," he spat, water streaming down his face into his hair, out from his mouth and nose and eyes – or at least, what resembled his mouth, nose and eyes. Piko was guessing by this point, since the man's face had long been beaten into a bloody, unrecognisable pulp. Piko tilted his head, silently regarding his latest victim. Mikio told him that this particular man was a tough nut to crack, and Piko could see why. He had been going through this for an entire month before Piko came to Russia, yet he still had not given in to his men's torture. Piko sighed.

"Look, I'm a good man. I don't like to torture people," he explained, leaning over and grabbing the man's chin. He forced the man to stare into his eyes, waiting for the coughing and retching to subside before he continued. Even upside-down, the man's face showed his obvious contempt for Piko. But it wouldn't stay that way for long. "The sooner you tell me everything about your men's movements, the sooner we can all go home and forget about this nasty business, don't you agree?"

The man laughed. It was a wet, raspy kind of sound. "Go home?" he repeated. "Do you think I'm a fucking idiot, _capo bastone_? I know that once I tell you anything of interest, you and your men will kill me and sell my body parts on the black market. I'd rather die than share anything of interest with you and your men," he attempted to spit in Piko's face, but he was too weak to do even that.

Piko watched him impassively. "Oh, how I hate your organisation. Always wrecking my plans. I guess I need to find an alternative then…maybe your wife?" there was no reaction. "No wife, then. A daughter?" the man twitched just slightly, and Piko was observant enough to notice. "I see. You have a daughter. And I suppose that you know perfectly well I can hunt her down if I set my mind to it," he leant close to whisper, watching the man for his response. The man glared weakly at Piko.

"You'll never find her," he declared. "She knows all about the dangers of living in the open. She's always on the move, you'll never find her…" his voice petered off and he began to cough, his vocal chords damaged by the torture he had undergone previously. Piko let go of the man's chin.

"We have Masuda Lily's address, right? She lives…oh, what do you know, in _my_ territory," Piko mused, turning towards one of his _soldato_ , keeping one eye fixed on the hanging man. "We'll fly back tomorrow. Hunt her down, since she isn't an official part of their organisation I assume that her resistance to torture is much lower than her father's…" he turned away, heading out of the room.

"Wait!" the man called out, his voice a harsh croak. Piko paused and slowly turned, staring at the man. He was gritting his teeth, blue eyes still sizzling with hatred. It was a pathetic sight, to see a man older than him bound up, struggling and unable to move, speaking up in defence of his only daughter. He wondered if he himself would have cracked under such pressure. Probably not, since to begin with there wasn't anyone in his life right now whom he would sacrifice everything for. He had broken up with his girlfriend to prevent this kind of situation from happening to him, after all.

He was the _capo bastone_ of their _famiglia_ , and once he returned to his family there was no way he could continue a romantic relationship, not without possibly harming the person he loved. It was a sad reality to be born into – people tried to shelter him from it, but the truth came crashing down around him when his mother died ten years ago. Those two years he spent away from his father were nothing but a blissful dream. And people would always eventually awaken from their dreams…

"Why, are you willing to talk now?" he smiled. He walked back to the man, who seemed almost resigned after calling out to Piko. "Trust me, if I find out that you lied about anything you say to me, your daughter will suffer through things a hundred times worse than what you went through," he warned. Everyone in the room knew that Piko meant it. "You see, I intend to make sure that my operations are carried out smoothly so I can ill afford a bunch of rowdy, undisciplined dogs running around the place, shitting all over my plans. You understand me, yes?" he laced his fingers together.

"You're a fucking bastard, Utatane Piko," the man gritted out. He smiled at that, nodding towards his men – once more, he went into the vat, and Piko watched as he was submerged underwater, flailing and struggling as he tried to breathe through the water flooding his lungs. Then he was brought up.

"I appreciate the compliment," he purred. "I might be a bastard, but at least I'm an _efficient_ bastard. It's your own fault for being stupid enough to have a daughter. There's a reason why people of the underworld should never marry, never have children unless they're under protection – and sadly," his voice turned icy, "your lot aren't under any protection whatsoever. Fucking scum, breeding like vermin. Someone needs to exterminate all of you," he sneered, leaning closer to the gasping man.

"Why are you…doing this?" the man was clearly winded. Piko blinked. Now that was a surprising turn of events. Maybe he stopped yelling in his face because he had finally accepted his fate. To be honest, there wasn't anything wrong with telling this man the truth. He was right – after Piko was done with him, his _soldato_ would kill him anyway. Dead men told no tales, after all, and it was better to be safe than sorry. Piko hadn't survived so long in the underworld by being careless.

"Because Kagamine Len is working for me," he murmured. The man twitched again, the only sign of surprise he revealed at this news. "And your group has been hunting him for long enough to get on my nerves. One of my informants there, I won't say who, revealed your organisation's plans – for some reason, some of you have been deployed to Paris. Unfortunately, Kagamine Len will be there in a month and I can't have him crossing paths with you or any of your pathetic agents now, can I?" he smiled.

"Kagamine Len!" the man hissed. "How dare – you little son of a _bitch_ ," he spat at Piko. Piko stilled at those words, eyes widening. The man seemed to pick up on his shock and continued, thinking that he had some hand over Piko now. "Oh, you don't like being called a bitch now, do you?" he mocked. "Nice to know that even the great Utatane Piko has weaknesses, you bloody motherfucker –"

Piko grabbed a pistol from one of his men and shot his victim in the kneecap. The man screamed, the pain taking him by surprise, and Piko watched emptily, waiting for the wailing to subside. "You know, I lied. I never knew where your daughter was living. I just know her name. Nor can I be bothered to find her, since even if you die I have three of your underlings awaiting their turn," he narrowed his eyes. "Parental love…they say that it's the greatest thing in the world, right? I don't know, do you agree? Maybe I'll find your daughter and kill her for entertainment's sake. Maybe before that I'll seduce her and fuck her senseless so that you'll know that this son of a _bitch_ was the one who destroyed your precious girl," he spat. The man moaned. Piko didn't know if he could hear him through the pain.

"Forget it. He's useless. Bring in the next one," he ordered his men. One of them went off to do his bidding, and Piko continued to observe his victim. "I only targeted you because of your rank in the organisation. If you were a grunt, I wouldn't have bothered. But it's pathetic that you'd allow your plans to fall apart just because of your daughter. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" he asked coldly. "Since you won't talk…well, I'm sure one of your underlings will gladly divulge your reasons for targeting Paris. I can't let anyone interfere with my assassin, you see. And I have one word of advice for you," he raised his gun again. " _Never_ ," he shot the man's other knee, " _insult_ ," the elbow, " _a boy's_ ," other elbow, " _mother_ …" he raised the gun, pointing it right at the man's forehead.

His screams still reverberated through the room. Blood was flowing, dripping into the vat of water beneath him, scarlet petals blossoming across the surface. How lovely, in a very twisted sort of way. Piko continued to point the gun, tilting his head to study the man. "Pathetic. Shooting you through the head now would be too merciful," he tossed the gun away, letting it skid across the ground. The floor was wet with blood and water, the man's limbs utterly useless now that the bullets had shattered the bone. "Toss him into the wilderness and let the snow or wolves kill him, whichever one comes first," he ordered his other _soldato_. The man nodded and took the semi-unconscious man down from the rafts, hoisting him over his shoulder. Crimson began to ooze across the man's shirt.

"Are we going to find his daughter now, Boss? I'm just…wondering," his soldier asked carefully as he began to head out of the room, as though afraid that Piko would lose his head and shoot him as well. Piko glanced at his soldier and shook his head, reaching up to push his fringe away from his eyes. His silver hair was covered with moisture, from being so close to the vat of water and from his own perspiration.

"His daughter…this man never really kept in touch with her. It just makes him all the more pathetic. He thought he was sacrificing himself to save her, but he doesn't know that his daughter's already dead," he closed his eyes. "Masuda Lily, one of the rogue drug dealers my assassin exterminated just last night. I saw the report he sent. Like father, like daughter…I suppose idiocy runs in the family. Now stop dawdling, I'm not paying you to ask stupid questions," Piko snapped. The man jumped and quickly went on his way, nervous about spending time with the _capo bastone_ when he was angry.

It was going to be a long day. He wasn't worried about making the others crack, but he was concerned about their motives for going to Paris. He didn't think they knew anything about his plans, so why did they intend to head there? He forbade Gumo from letting Len know about this for now, knowing that the assassin would never agree to go if he knew about Sicario's plans to head to Paris as well. And Piko was aware that if Len didn't go, his papa would lose his head. The only alternative was for Piko to step in himself and find out what Sicario intended to do in Paris. There was only so much he could learn from an informant – he knew _who_ was going, but _why_ was a completely different matter altogether.

As if the presence of the Venetians was not bad enough. The Paris situation seemed to be getting more and more out of hand. Perhaps he should go himself, without telling anyone of course. His father would never allow him to go to Paris, but if he did so in secret…should he? Was it worth the trouble? He was worried about his assassin and whether or not he would succeed in his task, because he had no doubt that should Len fail and be captured by the Venetians, they would find a way to link the assassin back to his _famiglia_. And on a personal level, he was concerned…about Miku. He couldn't deny that. It would be even worse if it turned out that Sicario and the Venetians had some kind of connection.

"I need to go to Paris," he murmured. "But without telling anyone. If I'm seen there when Len kills their _consigliere_ , then all hell will break loose. I can't let anyone notice me there, not even Miku…"

* * *

Rin was annoyed. Of course, that was nothing new – she was always, to some extent, annoyed about something. It was just a matter of how serious the 'something' was, and in this case, it was pretty bad. She stared at the cat which had somehow found its way inside her heavily guarded house.

"Nakajima _Gumo_!" she screamed, practically beside herself with anger – and some fear, because everyone knew that cats carried a ridiculous amount of bacteria on them. Her boyfriend skid down the stairs, a look of terror on his face. Good. He had better be scared of her, because this was not the first time – not even the second nor third – that Gumo had brought a goddamn cat into her house. She must have told him before a million times to _not_ bring animals into her living space. Was he deaf or stupid?

"It was hungry, it kept meowing for food and I couldn't just leave it outside when it looked so hungry…" Gumo babbled, but she shot him a frosty glare and he immediately shut up, looking shamefaced. "I'm sorry. I'll bring the cat out," he said meekly, carefully edging past her towards the cat in the kitchen, who was currently snacking on a bowl of tuna. Rin was pretty sure this was the tuna Len had bought for her when he visited her the other day. It was the only source of protein she had in her fridge for this week, and her stupid boyfriend actually fed it to a stupid bloody cat.

"Get _out_ ," she hissed venomously. With a yelp, Gumo grabbed the cat and dashed out of the room, leaving the half-finished bowl of tuna on the floor. Rin grimaced, disgusted by the cat's leftovers, and used the tip of her sock-covered foot to push the bowl further away from her. Gumo would be the one to clean this up, of course. She wasn't touching that, not when it was probably infested with billions of nasty germs. "If I hadn't come out from my office to get a drink from the kitchen, the cat would probably have done worse than just eat my tuna…" she muttered, walking to the kitchen counter and pouring out a cup of water. This was the first time she had left her office in a few hours.

She was busy. Rin was perfectly capable of multitasking, but she had so much work to do today that even with her brainpower she felt mildly overwhelmed. Piko's sudden departure for Russia caused a great deal of work for her. Downing her cup of water, she headed out of the kitchen back towards her study, tapping her gloved fingers irritably against her thigh as she walked. This was all too much trouble, so much time wasted, she had better things to do. She just finished the ID for Miku, so she had to get someone to pass it to her tomorrow – probably her brother, he would volunteer. What else? She had to monitor Ian in China, yes. And then Piko…Piko probably had more work for her.

Rin was feeling a little stressed. The knowledge Gumi provided concerned her greatly – some members of Sicario were moving in to Paris next month. Why? Did the Venetians hire them? If they did…then did that mean they were aware that Len was under Piko's hire? The whole underworld, or at least those who were important enough to influence the workings of their illegal universe, was aware that Len was on the run from the mercenary organisation. If Len was seen assassinating their _consigliere_ , then that might be suspicious. Of course, the Venetians did have more enemies than just the Palermo _famiglia_ …

Piko had forbade her and Gumo from saying anything to Len, and it was eating her up inside. Of course, if she was aware that Sicario definitely knew that Len would be in Paris within a month, she would have told her brother, contract be damned. But as of now, there wasn't _proof_ that they were going there because of Len, and jumping to conclusions would get them all into huge trouble. Piko was not a terrifying man – he was remarkably mild for a _capo bastone_ – but his father was a complete nutcase.

She entered her office, locking the door behind her, and quickly went to her desk to see if anything on her computer screens had changed. The two on the side were still clear, so she relaxed a little. She hated being put on guard duty, but this was a crucial period – if Ian did anything to piss off their Chinese allies, he would need her assistance to get the hell out of there. Meanwhile, the middle screen was still blinking urgently at her, and she let out a growl of frustration – she had already checked her email and cleared everything about five minutes ago, why did she still have so many goddamn notifications? It made her eyes hurt. She was sick of sitting here, trying to sort things out…

 _Ah._ Her eyes scanned the brief email, and immediately she picked up her phone and called her boss. He answered quickly. "Rin," his voice was urgent, "you need to tell Len _not_ to let Miku out of his sight when they go to Paris. Sicario isn't there because of Len, us or the Venetians…" she listened, and when he was done talking she actually didn't know how to respond. For a while, the line remained silent. Rin wasn't worried now, not exactly, but this news still didn't put her in the best of moods.

"He wouldn't let her out of his sight even if you didn't say a thing. You don't need to be concerned about that," she finally spoke, her words clipped. "And as you know, I'm going. That will take some attention off him – we all know that Sicario is equally interested in the both of us, they just don't know that I'm still alive. If they see me in Paris, they'll drop Len…" her voice trailed off. What else could she say? She didn't want her brother to be in danger. She knew she ought to have more faith in him because Len was good at getting himself out of trouble, but some part of her would always worry.

"If it's between you and Len, save yourself first before trying any sort of self-sacrificial heroics," Piko hissed. "Without you, everyone in Paris will be _blind_. We can't have that. I'm not concerned about Len, and neither should you be. We both know he can take care of himself," Piko exhaled audibly. "Is it necessary to send Miku for this trip? We previously agreed that Len can't pull this off on his own because their _consigliere_ is bound to be well-protected. But if you're going, then…he won't be alone anymore, would he? To begin with it's not like Miku would have offered that much assistance."

"And we agreed that Miku is there to serve as a distraction rather than as assistance," Rin answered sharply. "Len doesn't _need_ help. He needs a distraction. People know that the world's best assassin has blond hair and blue eyes. There's only one photo of him anywhere at all, it's grainy and it was taken years ago but there's enough resemblance to draw suspicion to him. Miku is there to make it seem like he's harmless, like he's completely unrelated to your _famiglia_ and is genuinely there solely for the tech conference. Isn't that what you wanted?" she asked. Though there were other reasons.

Len would be happy if Miku went. She knew he would be. And the one thing she wanted to do, that she felt like she _had_ to do, was to make her twin brother happy. He protected her all those years ago, and she was never able to do anything in return. Even now, helping him while he was on a mission didn't seem enough – it was part of her responsibilities as one of Piko's employees. But Miku made Len happy. Rin could see how he changed around her, and she wanted to see him smile that way again. He hadn't smiled so genuinely in a long time, and Miku…Miku alone could bring out that side of him.

Piko let out an irritated sigh. "Send one of the others! Any one of them! Find some other woman!" he exclaimed. "Why do you absolutely have to send Miku, when we all know that she has zero knowledge of what's in store for her – when she's practically useless should it come to a fight? We are dealing with not just one _famiglia_ here, and on top of that Sicario is going to settle the political problem there…which goes against the Commission. A lot of things are going to go terribly wrong in Paris, Rin."

"Technically, what you're doing now goes against the Commission too," she pointed out. Piko fell silent at that, and she continued. "Miku already knows too much about us. She may not know everything but she knows _enough_. You know we can't spare any of the hackers, we're understaffed as it is, and the spies…there's only one female spy in the department and she's pregnant. I think it'd be crueller to send her to Paris than to send Miku," Rin pointed out. Piko was still staying quiet. "It seems like you're allowing your emotions to get in the way of your decision-making, Boss. Miku is the best option, since she's already involved in our business anyway. Are you allowing your history with her to taint your judgement?" she probed. "Who was the one who told me that it's always _famiglia_ first, no matter what?"

Piko let out a heavy sigh. "Family first," he agreed, sounding resigned. "You're right…fine. I trust you know what's best for them. Len is your brother, after all," he quietened. "Anyway, remember what I said. Don't say anything to Len about Sicario, but warn him to keep his head down and be careful. You'll be there, so monitor the situation and ensure that no unfortunate encounters occur. Sicario isn't sending their best men so I'm certain Len could wipe the floor with them, but I'd prefer it if my assassin didn't get into too much trouble with the French police," he cautioned. Rin made a sound of assent. "Good. Now I need to go and wash away all the blood," he muttered. Rin snorted, amused.

"How many this time?" she asked, just curious about the number. It wasn't the first time Piko had gone personally to…get information out of people. He was a master manipulator and speaker, able to bully people into spilling their secrets in a way his half-brother, Kurotane Piko, was unable to. That was the main reason why Utatane was the _capo bastone_ rather than Kurotane. The black haired Piko was too hot-headed, too impulsive to become the next leader of the _famiglia_. If he ever usurped Utatane Piko's position, Rin would just up and go. She refused to work for a man as unhinged as him.

"Four. I got the information out of the second one, but we had to silence all of them anyway. I gave the other three a quick end though," he offered. "The first…didn't fare too well. But forget about that. How is Miku holding up with her practice?" he asked. Rin blinked. Why did he expect her to know that?

"I think you should ask Len or Yuma that. I wouldn't know. I haven't been out of my house for a few days," she answered, raising an eyebrow. Piko made a small sound of understanding and clicked his tongue. "Why don't you just call and ask her yourself since you're so concerned?" Rin added.

"Because…I don't want to let her know what I'm doing in Russia. The less she discovers or figures out about my affairs, the better," he answered, tone flat. "Ian should be returning in a few days, if I'm not wrong. How are the talks for the opium deal?" he asked. Of course, he was as concerned about his businesses as always. Rin opened up the latest email from the _capo_ , scanning quickly through it.

She didn't actually mind emails as long as the people sending them to her remembered to encrypt them. Piko was the only one who constantly forgot, which was why she preferred it if he did not communicate with her through digital means. With basic encryption she could follow up and ensure that no one could hack into the message system, but she couldn't do anything if there wasn't even basic protection in the first place. "Going smoothly. They just secured another deal for the next five years," she read. "I'm concerned that Ian is going to make them lose their temper though," she added after that.

"Me too. I should have sent Yuma, not Ian. But I didn't want Ian to be around when Miku first went to Siwon Drive…poor girl, she'd be terrified out of her wits," Piko sounded sentimental. He always did whenever he talked about Siwon Drive. Rin decided to hold her tongue, resisting the urge to remind her boss that it was actually called Greybird Road. Let him stay in his memories for a while longer. "I should start introducing the other _caporegimes_ to Miku soon. Maybe not Kurotane though."

"No, not Kurotane," Rin agreed on that count. "Anyway, it was a lovely chat but I need to go back to work for _your_ company now," her tone went sour. "Thank you for the information, I'll convey it to Gumo since he might want to go to Paris…God forbid that he misses out on good food and fancy events," she muttered. Piko chuckled, then hung up after that. Rin tossed her phone onto her desk and went back to her computer, pulling up a new screen and waiting for the browser to load. Piko said that Sicario wasn't sending their best men, but she wanted to try and find out who they were exactly. It would make her feel better, finding out as much information about them as she could.

It didn't take long to hack into Sicario's private servers. Their security was less sophisticated than that of the institution, all those years ago…she shook her head and focused on the task at hand, looking through their archives to see who had responded to the post about a Paris job. Lucky for her that it was still common practice to hire a hitman through organisation based forums, though of course further discussion was taken to a more private location. The forums should be enough to find out basic details such as their identities though. It took a while before she managed to sift out the relevant personal particulars, but eventually she found out that it was five men. She didn't know who they were, meaning they probably weren't very good. Maybe new members?

She quickly found out more information about these five men through the dark web and transferred the relevant details into a Notepad file so that she would remember to look out for them while in Paris. Now her job here was done, and she could go back to searching the black market to see what was the latest price for a lung. She knew Piko would probably have a few organs he'd like to sell since he was done with extracting information. Organs could fetch quite a price on the black market nowadays.


	10. Chapter 10

"Hi, could you come up?" Len tossed his gun onto the bed, holding the phone between his shoulder and his ear, leaning against the table. He examined the red pool spreading beneath his feet.

"What happened?" the gruff voice responded. Len glanced at the floor again and grimaced, nudging the head away from his person. He was dead tired from dealing with the remaining rogue dealers from last night, and the only thing he wanted was to come back to his room and get a good night's sleep.

Well, apparently that wasn't going to happen. He hated dealing with the aftermath of his job. Bodies were really annoying to dispose of properly. "Your security bloody sucks, that's what happened. Some guy barged into my room trying to steal my stuff. Fucking idiot. Didn't you tell them that this room was out-of-bounds?" he groused, giving the man the evil eye. "Can't they go rob the sorry bastard staying down the hallway to the right? Do your damn research before trying to break into a room," he continued to grumble. The man on the other end of the line sighed, quietly muttering something.

"Okay, I'll be up with a body bag and a bucket," the man hung up and Len put the phone down, carefully stepping over the corpse and plopping down on the mattress. He saw the bloody footprints on the wooden floor and winced, realising he should have taken off his shoes before walking around the room. Cleaning up was going to be a real hassle later…oh well, it was already done anyway.

The receptionist came up to his room really quickly. Less than five minutes after placing the phone call, Len heard a knock. He had just managed to take his boots off and now, he laid the boots to one side and got off the bed, making his way to the door as he carefully avoided the splatters of blood. He looked through the peephole and saw the inn's owner, so he opened the door and quickly ushered the man inside before anyone unwelcome could barge into the room. One could never be too careful – for all he knew this dead man had an accomplice who was just as stupid as he was.

"This is the third time you've killed a man in my hotel," the owner complained, brandishing the bucket and the body bag. Len made a face, taking hold of the bag – he would rather dispose of the body than clean up the mess. The owner grudgingly got to work. "I know that you're on the run, but seriously…sometimes I wonder whether the amount you pay me is worth letting you stay in here."

"I know, I know, you tell me that every time I come to stay here," Len unzipped the body bag, picking up the dead man's legs and dragging him across the floor. A trail of blood and grey matter spread across the wood, much to the owner's consternation. "But still you allow me to book a room. You know I help keep the hotel peaceful while I'm around. Usually, at least," he hauled the guy into the bag, grunting a little as he tried to squeeze the body inside. This man was a little bit overweight.

"Yeah, but…" the owner's voice trailed off as he mopped up the blood, "just wondering, how did you get rid of that one?" he tilted his head towards the bag, which was now halfway zipped. Len looked up, in the process of yanking on the stuck zip, and stared at the owner – he rarely asked him about that, preferring to know as little of his customers' troubles as possible. "You made quite a mess this time," the owner explained, gesturing at the fluids that were splattered all over the wooden floor.

"Oh…that's a good question. This guy was obviously stupid enough not to research whose room to rob. Probably decided to try his luck with the VIP suite, because obviously whoever lives here must be rich," Len snorted and shook his head, finally yanking the zip up all the way. He'd dump the body in the ocean or something later. "He's really a complete moron…well, if he succeeded in kidnapping me he _would_ be rich, but come on, he obviously isn't good enough to do that. I got really pissed off because he barged in less than three minutes after I climbed in through the window, I guess he thought that the room was empty…I heard him coming inside so I waited behind the door and stuck my gun through his mouth and blew out his brains. It was really quick. I gave him a faster death than he deserved."

"That explains the suspicious patch on the wallpaper," the owner deadpanned, staring at said patch. Len shrugged. "I should turn you over to the authorities so I could get all that money too, but I value my life more than the reward. No point in being rich when you spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, waiting for the world's top assassin to hunt you down," he shook his head. "I must be insane, letting you stay in my hotel like that," he muttered. "As if the normal riffraff who come here aren't bad enough. Well, you have one more week before I'm kicking you out of here."

"You don't need to sound so eager, my feelings are hurt," Len sighed, dragging the body bag towards the door and leaving it next to the wall as a reminder to bring out the trash later. He wasn't in the mood to do it now…or maybe he could just pay one of the gang members living on the floor below to do it for him. He would have to think about that. He didn't trust people to do things for him.

The owner gave him a long stare, in the midst of mopping up the blood and other gory matter on the floor. There was a lingering smell of rust, which he would have to get rid of later too. Not that Len minded, actually. He had smelled a lot worse in his line of work. Sometimes people knew that he was coming and they would literally shit their pants when he showed up. Things would often get messy. "I would rather not earn the money you pay me than let you stay here for too long and be killed by those aiming for the bounty on your head," he said flatly. "As if I don't have enough trouble catering to people like you…sometimes I really feel like shutting this place down," he shook his head, going back to his cleaning. Len dumped the body bag and stretched, looking at his hands. There was blood…

"I'm going to wash my hands," he announced, ignoring what the owner had said just now. It wasn't the first time he was complaining about this issue anyway – but he knew the man would never shut down Pyre Leaf Inn. It was the only thing that was keeping him alive now. He had seen too much as a result of this job, and if he ever closed the place down there would be people coming out from the underworld to try to silence him. In their world, only the dead could be trusted to keep a secret.

"Take that out with you, just dump it in the trash out front. A friend of mine is clearing it tomorrow and we'll both pretend that we didn't see anything," the man grimaced. "Bad karma, leaving such things lying around like that. And knowing there's a dead man upstairs…it gives me the heebie-jeebies."

It was Len's turn to give the man a long look. "Sure. You make sure that you pretend not to have seen anything," Len reached out to the bed, grabbing the gun he left there. He glanced down at the firearm and lifted his gaze to the man, who was watching him warily as well, before tucking the gun into his coat. "I'd really hate to have your name next on my hit list, so just be careful what you say."

Len turned and opened the room door, stepping out into the dingy hallway and towing the black body bag behind him. The door creaked shut, leaving a bloody handprint on the brass doorknob, and the owner sighed. There was no doubt in his mind that, out of all the customers he ever had staying in his inn, Kagamine Len was by far the worst. The ruthless assassin invited nothing but trouble.

* * *

"I don't understand people sometimes," Len grumbled to himself as he dragged the body bag down the staircase. "Why would you choose to break into an assassin's room? Really? Did he actually have a death wish?" he glanced behind him at the heavy body bag. He wasn't in the mood for this.

Maybe he did have a death wish. Well, he got that wish fulfilled in that case. It was a painless death, Len knew – one second the gun was in his mouth and the next second the bullet was cutting through his brain. Even if he hadn't wanted to die, at least he went quickly. Len could have chosen to make the process long and painful, but he didn't feel like messing around today. He just wanted a good night's sleep. Last night he barely got anything, so he was exhausted. It was bad enough that even Miku could tell…

He exhaled. Miku – in all honesty, she wasn't that bad a shot. She was doing pretty well for someone who never even held a gun before. He could remember his first time shooting as clear as day. Not a single bullet had gotten near the target. He smiled fondly at the memory – it was so long ago, when he was eight years' old…he was twenty-four now. Time sure flew by quickly. For sixteen years he had wandered around with no clear sense of direction or purpose, but meeting Miku gave him one. Len never believed in God before this, and actually he still didn't, but now he sometimes thought that maybe there was some force out there steering him through his complicated life. Things seemed to be looking up.

She accepted what she knew of him. It was a good start. She knew about his job, and that alone did not chase her away, for which he was grateful. Few women ever stayed past that stage. She might not know what he was like when he was working because he was always so humorous around her, but he hoped that this was a part of him she would never uncover. He'd love to have her in every part of his life but there were certain things that were just too dangerous, and him at work was one of them. After all, she was just an ordinary girl sucked into something far beyond her control.

Rin would say that Miku could learn. Yeah, that was Rin. Rin was special – she had never been like one of the ordinary people who walked down the street, going through the motions of living until the day they died. And if one was not Rin, they would have to train from young to be special...there was a difference between being trained to kill as a child, and doing the same when you were older. It was why he was so sought after, why people claimed he was the best assassin in the world. He lived to kill, it was the only thing he knew how to do, and he never had to struggle with the idea of feelings or a conscience.

Maybe his circumstances made him unique. Both him and Rin were special, after all. At least that was what he was told while growing up. With only the faces of strange men and women conducting tests, day after day after day, asking how much _pain_ he felt, waiting for him to scream in anguish before they would stop hurting him – he had always been a blank slate. He was never taught any morals so he didn't have any. And his training simply reinforced that lack of conscience. He was surprised he even knew how to have feelings anymore, actually – maybe this was the only part of him left that resembled humanity. So in this sense, wouldn't it mean that Miku…made him human?

The ability to empathise was a strange thing. He was certainly capable of it to some extent – the fact that he was standing here at all was a testament to that – but sometimes, it felt like such a foreign concept as well. Len blinked and shook his head, deciding to stop being so introspective. It was rare for him to start thinking about these things…he tried not to be a deep person because superficiality made life so much easier. It was hard enough trying to survive. He didn't need to think about his reason to exist or wonder about how his life might be different if he had been raised normally…

What was normal though? Miku was a normal civilian, but her past didn't seem to be too happy. At least not after her father died. She worried about money a lot, he knew. It reminded him of himself. He lugged the body bag down the steps, slipping into the side alley nearby where the Dumpster was located. He wasn't concerned about being charged with murder here, anyway. This was a crime-ridden part of the city. Murder was a daily occurrence here, along with drug peddling and prostitution. The people who knew nothing of the underworld whispered that the Mafia carried out their work here…

He walked down the alley, the body bag growing heavier and heavier the more he went on. It was beginning to get on his nerves. He really hated body disposal, it was the most tedious part of his job. He could always just set it on fire or something but he didn't have a lighter or gasoline on him. He saw there was someone slouched next to the Dumpster and hoped it wasn't a hobo, because if he started asking for food or money Len would probably shoot him out of annoyance. And that would mean yet another body to get rid of. He really had better things he could do with all this time.

"Hey, hey, hey bro," the slumped figure straightened up as he watched Len approaching, grunting a little from the effort needed to drag the body across the floor. Seriously, how heavy was this fat prick? Len ignored the man, whom he now noticed was dressed in torn jeans, a faded shirt and a large black coat that was too big for his skinny frame. His eyes were feverish and his hair was long and matted – he looked like he hadn't slept or bathed in days. "Hey, don't ignore me," the man's voice took on a desperate whine, and Len decided to at least look up at him. "You have crack?" he whispered now that he caught Len's attention. Len narrowed his eyes. Did he look like a drug dealer?

"No, sorry," he answered shortly. "I'm not the right person to ask. I might know someone, but…" he gave the guy a look over, taking in his bedraggled appearance and the hollow sunken cheeks, those eyes that seemed too big for his skinny face, and could tell that this junkie had been living hand-to-mouth for some time. "No money, no talk," he concluded simply, reaching the Dumpster and letting go of the body bag. It hit the dirt floor with a soft 'thump'. The drug addict glanced at the bag.

"C'mon, bro," the guy was begging now. "Really, really. I really need it. Haven't had it in…in two days and I've just been sitting here ever since…I can't even fucking move, I feel so damn depressed," a shudder ran through his body. "I think I might…I might bite off my tongue. Help me," he was almost crying. Len felt disgusted. He had never touched drugs, he didn't even smoke, and honestly he felt that these drug users were all really pathetic. He had half a mind to kick the man away from him.

"Look, I can't help you without cash," he swung open the Dumpster lid, preparing to haul the body in. The man started tugging at his sleeve, insistently begging for more cocaine, and Len briefly thought about shooting the guy – but no, he didn't want to clear up another mess. As he jerked away from the junkie, crouching down to pick up the body bag, a thought came to mind and he turned to face the drug addict, a small smile on his face. "You need money, right?" he asked. The man nodded frantically, suddenly looking as though Len had just revealed the secret to happiness or something.

Well, in a way, he would be. Cocaine was clearly this man's source of happiness. "I have a suggestion for you, then. Take this bag," Len tugged the body bag towards the man, who took hold of it with a wondering look and trembling fingers. "Body parts fetch an awful lot of money in the black market nowadays. I just shot this guy a few minutes ago so he should still be viable…eh, I don't know how it works since I don't deal in organs or limbs myself, but I'm sure you'll be able to do something with it. Better than just tossing aside a nice, fresh corpse, right?" he grinned at him, waiting for a response.

A look of fear was slowly spreading across the junkie's face. "Corpse…? You killed someone?" his voice was filled with panic. Len nodded, drawing his gun out from his coat. He undid the safety latch, pointing it right at the shaking junkie. Given his reaction to the body, it should be easy enough to scare him off.

"I can't be bothered to kill you too, it's enough trouble for one night. I'm going to leave the body here so do whatever the hell you want with it. If you don't want it, just leave it here. If you want it, then take it and get the hell out of my sight," he snapped. He gave him a fierce scowl too for good measure.

The man seemed rooted to the spot with fear, but when Len tugged lightly on the trigger the junkie instantly bolted out of the alley, running a lot faster than what Len thought him capable of. Len smirked and kept the gun away, hauling up the body bag and rolling it into the Dumpster. When that was done, he lowered the lid and brushed off his hands, hoping that his room would be cleaned up when he returned to the inn. He didn't pay to suffer through the stench of blood and death at night. He was surrounded by death when he worked, so he didn't want his rest to be dominated by it too.

"I wonder what tomorrow will bring," he said aloud, looking up at the night sky. He had to bring the employee pass to Miku tomorrow – right before this he went to Rin's house and collected it on her behalf. He also took the chance to ask his sister about what was in that stupid thumb drive she wanted the other time, but she mumbled something vague about top secret documents and left it at that. He didn't want to push for information so he didn't bother to pursue it, though he did inform her about how Gumo had made his life difficult when he was searching for the thumb drive. He hoped that Rin did something to her boyfriend – the only person Gumo really was scared of was Rin.

It made him wonder why they were even together, sometimes. Though he saw the usefulness of the relationship, of course. He was pretty sure their feelings for each other were genuine at least, but it was really such an odd relationship they had. Then again, he wasn't really one to talk. He never had what one could call a _normal_ relationship with anyone before. Every girl he ever dated usually left him after a while, thinking he was cheating on them or something since he could never tell them the truth about his circumstances. As for those who knew…for some reason, they always ended up dead. Usually by his hand. Since every girl who knew he was an assassin usually ended up being an enemy of his boss or something. And Len didn't like those girls enough to go against Piko's orders, anyway.

He wasn't sure what he felt for Miku, exactly. He knew Piko wouldn't give him the order to shoot her since they knew each other and the silver haired man didn't hate her guts or anything, but if his boss were to hypothetically ask him to murder her, would he be able to do so? The honest answer, even if he didn't like it, was yes. At least for now it was. Would Miku end up being the one girl he was willing to lay his life down for? Perhaps. It was such a foolish, romantic notion. Though sometimes he felt like it was more of selfish than romantic. Wouldn't sacrificing yourself for someone else burden the survivor with guilt and misery for the rest of their days? He wouldn't want Rin to die for him.

Ah, there he was being all philosophical again. He really ought to stop thinking about such things. Every second he spent dwelling on strange thoughts was a second wasted. "Let's get back to work," he told himself, though the words sounded more resigned than enthusiastic. Oh well, he wouldn't be paid if he didn't complete his duties, so he didn't have a choice anyway. He had yet to finish filing his report for the list of eliminated targets from last night. Five grand per shot wasn't too bad a deal.

* * *

"Ah, Ian!" Yuma greeted the stranger, clapping him on the back. The one called Ian shot Yuma a deadly glare, which the pink haired man coolly ignored. "How were the Chinese? I hope that your deal went smoothly?" the _capo_ asked. Ian let out an irritated sigh, looking towards the ceiling.

Miku was just trying her very best to be inconspicuous. After Len and Yuma's warnings about the new _caporegime_ , she didn't think she wanted to be noticed by him in any way. So far, he hadn't seemed to register her presence, for which she was thankful. The man standing in the room now was the same man in the photo on the desk Len showed her yesterday, and yes, he was beautiful.

Ian was around Len's height and had blond hair and blue eyes as well, but that was where all the similarity ended. Ian's blond hair was silvery rather than golden like Len's, and his eyes were dark blue, reminding her of outer space and the cosmos, rather than vivid cerulean. His hair darkened towards the tips as well, becoming light pink. His hair was rather long and tied up into a messy braid which reached the middle of his back. There seemed to be a perpetual dark scowl on his face.

"It all went fine, contrary to what you might expect," Ian's voice was slightly lower than Yuma's and rough compared to the taller _caporegime_. "I know when to hold my tongue…I bet you were waiting for me to get gunned down by them," his voice went sour. Ian certainly didn't seem like the kind of person she would want to offend. Len patted her reassuringly on the shoulder, about to leave the underground complex. Before Ian arrived, Len told her that he had to do something else so he would be unable to wait for her today. Just as he was about to leave, the passageway into the underground complex opened and this new man strode in, looking like he was about to murder someone.

It was an expression which simply didn't match his delicate features. Ian looked angelic. She was sure he would be an absolute stunner when he smiled – except, did he actually ever smile? Judging by that frown he was wearing on his face, she didn't think so. Maybe only when he actually was killing someone. She really hoped that she would continue to be invisible to him. So far, he hadn't even noticed her hanging around. It was as though she was made out of glass or something.

"I had all faith in your ability," Yuma responded. She stared at the man's poker face and decided that she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "But that's not important. You know about the new girl, yes?" to her horror, Yuma turned everyone's attention upon her. Ian looked around at her as well, his dark blue eyes narrowing, and she desperately wished that she had the ability to melt into the wall and pretend she didn't exist. "She'll be practicing shooting in your complex until Boss comes back from Russia tomorrow," Yuma went on to explain. Ian continued to stare intently at her.

Len whispered a quick goodbye in her ear and, before she could try to stop him, dashed out of the room into the passageway beyond, heading out of the underground complex. How dare he leave her to face the two _capos_ like that! Swallowing, she turned slowly to watch them both – Yuma had his usual neutral expression on his face, but Ian was watching her the way a wolf might stare at its dying prey. She wasn't very happy about being in this situation, but she decided it would be good if she said something to break the tense silence. "Um, hello," she finally stuttered, cringing at herself.

"New girl?" Ian came closer to her, tipping his head to one side. She remained still and quiet as he began to circle her, looking at her from every angle. She had no idea what the heck he was doing but she felt that it was best not to say anything for now. He looked like someone who was on the verge of exploding. "Yeah, Piko told all of us, didn't he? Though I bet Kiyo and Kurotane wouldn't have met her yet, since Kiyo is out of town and Kurotane…he's worse than me, isn't he?" he smiled thinly.

Yuma made a sound of assent but Miku couldn't focus on that, since Ian was now standing directly in front of her, closely studying her face. She tried not to tremble. This man was very intimidating in a way even Yuma wasn't. Yuma, at least, never got into her personal space. Ian did not seem to have the same sense of etiquette as the first _capo_. "I don't know what you know about us," Ian leant close to her to whisper in her ear, "but if you're going to be here then you listen to _my_ rules, you understand? Whatever Yuma said to you was irrelevant. You don't prove yourself to be worthy of my time, then I'll make your life here with us very, _very_ miserable. You understand me, don't you?"

He didn't even bother to conceal his threat. She nodded frantically, and the blond man relaxed, a small smirk on his face. "Good. Don't give me any trouble and I won't harass you either," he warned before stepping aside, giving her some space to breathe once more. "Oh well, she seems obedient enough so I doubt I'll have much trouble with her," he spoke so casually that it was as though Miku had disappeared from the room. She felt almost offended but didn't dare to show it on her face.

"Were you at Pyre Leaf Inn last night?" Yuma asked, getting hold of Ian's attention. The _capo_ looked away from her, and suddenly she felt like a heavy weight was taken off her shoulders. She shivered, hoping that Ian wouldn't be around while she was practicing her shooting later. She was a bad enough shot already – his presence would probably make it even worse. And there was no need to let this man think she was any more inferior than he obviously assumed her to be. "I heard there was quite a commotion last night…three deaths, apparently. And you were responsible for one of them."

Ian rolled his eyes. "I don't know where you get your information from, but yes," his voice was still sour. "Some stupid bastard tried to break into my room. I think he had two accomplices, and all three of them made some pretty bad choices. I got rid of the leader…one of the others broke into some Russian's room, and the last one got into Len's suite. That guy was stupider than the one who tried to rob me," Ian tutted and shook his head, but Miku was distracted by the mention of Len. So someone had tried to sneak into his hotel room last night… "Sad bastard. At least Len gave the man a quick death."

"What, and you didn't?" Yuma responded. Ian let out a dry laugh but didn't say anything more about the matter. Miku bit her lip, turning away from the two men so that they wouldn't see her face. Len had killed someone last night…it was still a difficult thing for her to come to terms with, since most of the time Len _didn't_ seem like someone who could casually kill another person. It was so easy to forget what his job was. But Ian said it so easily, as though Len murdered people all the time. In all honesty, he probably did. Why was it so hard to match the friendly, easy-going blond with the image of death and murder everyone else painted of him? She wondered about that unseen side of him.

Yuma sighed. "I'm not surprised. I bet you let him die of blood loss. It's your favourite method, anyway," he frowned. "I still am of the opinion that you should kill people off as quickly as possible. It's not like you earn anything out of a slow death," Yuma reasoned. Miku winced – they were talking about this as though it was as trivial as the weather, but all this discussion made her uncomfortable.

Maybe she ought to get out of here, but she was still hesitant about attracting Ian's attention and she was sure that if she tried to slip away, he would notice. "Perhaps, but I do get a kick out of it," Ian grinned. Miku sneaked a glance at the scary _capo_ – he was stunning when he smiled. He possessed a radiant, almost unearthly kind of beauty, but she was reminded of his sadism and promptly looked away again, her heart in her throat. She had no doubt that he meant what he said just now about making her life miserable should she fail to meet his expectations. This man was a clear sadist.

"Let's not make the girl uncomfortable," Yuma appeared to have noticed her silent distress. She was glad when he put a stop to the conversation. Ian glanced at her again, looking decidedly bored. At least he didn't try to continue. "Miku, let's resume our gun practice. You'll have opportunities to talk more with Ian during lunch…if you want to, that is," he added carefully. Ian raised an eyebrow and stared at her, an almost challenging expression on his face. Miku swallowed and smiled carefully.

"That might be nice," she answered, trying her best not to let her voice betray her fear. Yuma didn't seem particularly convinced by her neutral tone though, giving her a strange look. Instead of responding to her words, Ian simply rolled his eyes and walked out, brushing past her in the process. She tensed up at the fleeting contact, almost flinching away but stopping herself just in time, and then the blond _capo_ was out of the small room. Yuma exhaled audibly, and she peeked at the tall man. He was looking at the door through which Ian had exited, confusion in his expression. It looked out of place on his usually calm face.

"Well, that's Ian for you," he finally spoke, shaking his head. "Stubborn, hot-headed and extremely prickly. He means well, really," though Yuma himself sounded uncertain here. Miku gave him a look of disbelief and he chuckled quietly. "I can understand how you feel. He will come around in due time. Ian has exceptionally high standards of his _soldato_ , so…he has a tendency to look down on anyone whom he does not regard as his equal. But he has undying loyalty to our boss, so if you are under our boss's protection, there is nothing to fear. He will not harm you if that's the case."

"So if Piko wasn't vouching for me, Ian _would_ hurt me?" she asked, morbidly curious about that. Yuma shrugged, and she took that to mean that even he did not know. Ian did seem to be rather unpredictable… "Okay, I don't want to think about him anymore. Hopefully I won't run into him again later," she shuddered. "Should we get to training?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, we should," Yuma agreed firmly, turning around and heading off towards the training room. By now the route was familiar to her and she easily fell into step beside him. "Anyway, Len will be back after lunch," he added while they walked. Perhaps he was able to sense her discomfort about being alone down here. "He has some matters to settle, from what I understand. You heard that Len killed a man last night. So he has to compensate the hotel's owner for all the trouble. The owner probably called in a few favours, from what I understand it's not the first time Len has shot someone on his property…"

Miku made a face. "How many people does Len kill every day?" she asked, semi-jokingly. Of course she didn't think that Len actually bumped off people on a daily basis. But Yuma actually seemed to be thinking over her question, and the longer he took to answer, the more nervous she became.

"I don't know about that, actually. Most nights he doesn't shoot anyone, but if you average out all the deaths in a year…well, more than one a day, I would say," Yuma finally gave her an estimate. "And Len doesn't always report all his kills, only if he needs to claim his salary – meaning that it's a task our boss assigned to him. Recently he was told to exterminate all the rogue drug dealers around here, for example. They're in complete disarray now that their only supplier has been bumped off."

"Rogue drug dealers?" Miku echoed. It was interesting to hear about, though the nature of their discussion made her feel…well, strange. She always thought that this was the kind of thing that only happened in movies. Murder, drugs, assassins…sometimes she would wake up thinking that it was all a dream, but then she would look at her phone and see a morning text from Len or maybe a missed call from Piko and she would realise that it wasn't a dream, after all. "What do you mean by rogue? I mean, to begin with what makes a drug dealer…legal?" she struggled to say. Yuma frowned.

"As long as they abide by the rules our boss set down and enforces, then we allow them to operate. Some of those rules involve not peddling drugs outside your assigned area, and only obtaining drugs from us rather than from others…we have quite a monopoly here," Yuma explained, opening the door to the shooting range. "But recently there was someone supplying a few dealers, likely at a cheaper rate too, and those same dealers stopped paying us taxes so they're considered rogue. Our boss does not take kindly to those who dare to defy his authority, so he sent Len to get rid of them. We didn't expect to find the supplier on top of that, but Len did and Len killed her, so there we have it."

 _Her_? Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine. She couldn't explain why, maybe it was her intuition, but she had a really bad feeling about this. "When did Len get rid of the dealers?" she asked. Yuma blinked, probably wondering why she was taking such an interest in the situation, but he answered anyway.

"The night before. He was tired in the morning, yes? He was up all night, hunting down the rogue dealers on the list. He has a few left to hit, and I assume he went out now to settle those too. I'm impressed actually, that he's willing to take such a risk in broad daylight. But I suppose that being skilled in assassination means that it doesn't really matter what time you get around to exterminating the rats," Yuma mused. "Either way, as long as he gets the job done I won't comment on what time he carries out his work. He _is_ the best assassin in the world, after all."

Miku felt sick. She vividly remembered Len telling her yesterday that he spent the night clearing up Miki's mess. Suddenly, she had her doubts about where the redheaded secretary had disappeared to. Family problems…Len sounded strange the first time she told him she wanted to talk to Miki. And he hadn't seemed aware of her family emergency either. At that time, she thought little of it since he said they weren't actually close, but maybe…no, she had to be overthinking this, right?

"Where's Miki?" she asked loudly, catching the _capo_ 's attention. Yuma slowly looked around at her, and she thought something almost like pity flitted across his face, but it was gone before she could be sure. For a while, the two of them stared silently at each other. Miku had yet to step inside the shooting range, and they remained there at the doorway, a standoff of sorts. She was trembling.

"She was the supplier for those dealers. Len killed her three nights ago," Yuma sounded apologetic. She didn't hear him though, she was so shocked by the abrupt realisation that her suspicions were true – now that she thought about it, Miki's family emergency had seemed so sudden, and no one wanted to say anything about where the secretary was…and Len always seemed so shifty whenever the topic was brought up. Now she knew why. She wasn't close to the secretary, but she recalled her bright smile and how friendly she was – and now, this woman Miku barely knew was _dead_.

She swayed on her feet and Yuma caught her before she could collapse. "Miku?" he called her name worriedly. Her eyelids fluttered. She felt like she was going to be sick. _"If I give the command, you will be eliminated_ …" Piko's words floated through her memory, and the churning feeling in her stomach intensified. Piko hadn't been exaggerating. Rin and Len were clearly steadfast in their loyalties, and Len ended up murdering someone who had known him personally…so if she really did anything wrong, she would be killed the same way Miki was, then? Her head was becoming really heavy.

She vaguely heard Yuma's voice over her head and the sound of running, someone with a deeper voice calling out, a new hand shaking her brusquely. She opened her eyes for long enough to see Ian peering closely at her, a scowl on his face as he placed the back of his hand against her forehead, the two _caporegimes_ conversing rapidly in a language she didn't understand. Then the dizziness overtook her and she slipped into unconsciousness, the murdered secretary the last thought to leave her mind.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Ian is IA's genderbend, to clear up any possible confusion. I don't like the name Io or Ai, so Ian it is._


	11. Chapter 11

Miku groaned quietly, her eyes fluttering open. She could feel that she was lying on something firm but soft, and there was something thick covering her body all the way up till her neck. The lighting was dim, but it was enough to make her squint. The last thing she remembered was passing out…

"Oh, you're awake now," an even voice spoke from beside her. She turned and saw blond hair and bright blue eyes, looking quizzically at her. She blinked and suddenly remembered the reason _why_ she had fainted – because Miki didn't have a family emergency, Len had actually assassinated her!

"You killed Miki!" she gasped, shooting upright and staring at Len. "You lied to me!" Len sighed and shook his head, and she frowned – now this was actually kind of unlike him…he came closer to her and Miku abruptly realised that this person was way too short to be Len. Her face began to redden.

"We might resemble, but it's honestly annoying to be mistaken for my twin brother," Rin sounded a little irritated. "It's not the first time…but no matter, let's forget about that for now. How are you feeling?" Rin raised a gloved hand, pressing it against her forehead. The cool, thin latex felt strange against her skin. "No fever. That's good. Yuma was afraid that he had been pushing you too hard the past two days…he's such a worrier," she shook her head again. "So what happened to you, Miku?"

"Um, nothing…" Miku fidgeted. Actually, it was a little embarrassing to admit that she fainted out of shock. Rin stared at her with that piercing blue gaze, eyes which were the exact same shade of blue as Len's yet so different, and Miku felt like she couldn't hide the truth. "I found out about Miki," she muttered. "Piko and Len told me that she had some family matters to settle so I didn't really think about it, but then Yuma said that actually she's dead and Len killed her!" she exclaimed.

Rin looked steadily at her for a while and she found her sudden energy dwindling. Curling up on the mattress – she now realised she was lying on someone's bed – she tried to focus on anything besides Rin's face. The blonde's expression was inscrutable. "Well, that's nothing new," she finally said, and Miku flinched. Her tone softened just a bit. "You've always known that Len is an assassin. His job _is_ to kill people, no matter how friendly or nice he might seem to you. Piko and Len were trying to keep the harsh reality of their life from you, but this is really how it works. You can't trust anybody here, since even your closest employees might turn around to stab you in the back. That's something Piko deals with every single day, and as for Len…he doesn't want you to see him as dangerous," Rin let out a sigh. "I told him that he was mollycoddling you, but he insisted that he knew what was best."

She shuddered. "I kind of preferred being kept in the dark," she looked up at the ceiling, wondering about where she was. She guessed they were still in the underground complex since the ceiling still looked kind of…rocky. "But I guess I'll just have to accept that Miki is dead, and that…Len will place his job above all else," she lowered her gaze, looking back at the blonde. Rin nodded at her words.

"He will," she said quietly. "But maybe that will change for you. Who knows?" suddenly, her lips curved up into a small, rare smile, and Miku gaped at her, wondering if she had just imagined that. Just as quickly the smile was gone. "Anyway, are you well enough to get up and resume training? You didn't pass out for very long, but no matter the duration fainting is usually a sign that there's something wrong with your body. If you're not feeling up to it, you should skip training for today."

Miku moved her arms up and down, testing out her limbs. Her muscles seemed fine. She didn't think there was anything wrong with her, honestly – she had just passed out because of the shock. "I'm good," she answered. "I can resume training if I really have to," some of her reluctance seeped out into her voice. Rin's lips twitched at that and the blonde reached out, patting her on the shoulder.

"Then I'll let the others know. Yuma and Ian will want to be informed about your condition. They're having a discussion right now about your _frail_ physical state and Ian seems rather displeased about your weak constitution," Rin looked exasperated. "Though he was the one who carried you into his room to let you recuperate. I wonder if he's actually more human than we give him credit for?" she mused.

Miku blinked. " _Ian_ carried me here? To his room?" she looked around now with newfound interest. The room was rather small, and it didn't have much furniture. There was only a bed, a chair and a wooden table. It didn't look like a place where someone lived, not even if that person happened to be a soldier.

"Yes, he carried you. But this isn't really his room. It would be sad, even for Ian, to live somewhere so dingy," Rin's words echoed her thoughts perfectly. "This is where he comes to rest when he is using this particular complex. Only the _soldato_ actually live here, the _capos_ all have their own houses somewhere within the city. I don't care to remember where exactly," Rin dusted off her blouse and turned away, looking like she was ready to leave. "I'll let them know. The sooner I tell them you're fine, the sooner I can go back to my house," she muttered. Oh yes, her aversion to spending time outside…

"Did you come here just to check on me, Rin?" Miku asked, unable to help her curiosity. Rin, who had been walking towards the door when Miku spoke, paused and turned around to look at her. The blonde was short compared to Len, and even compared to her. Miku felt stupid about mistaking her for her brother. But in her drowsy state just now, the fraternal twins certainly looked a great deal like each other.

"Yes, I did. Yuma gave me a call because apparently Len's phone was switched off. Of course, the two _capos_ had no idea what to do so they just put you here and decided to get a woman to see to you. I'm glad that you're not ill," Rin's gaze lingered curiously on her, and Miku suddenly wondered if Rin was capable of mindreading. "You know, you need to take this gun practice seriously," she spoke up, the change in topic catching her by surprise. "It's not just about Piko coming back to yell at you. You are not the main target in Paris of course, but that does not mean it will be completely safe."

Miku frowned. She felt pretty good now actually, well enough to at least sit up without feeling faint, so that was exactly what she did. She found her shoes, which had been placed on the floor next to the bed, and began to put them on. "You said it would be an easy job though?" she asked. She did remember Rin – and pretty much everyone – saying that it was an easy task, it would be pretty safe and she wouldn't have to worry about a thing. In fact, it sounded like it would be a nice escape from daily life.

"It ought to be easy, but that doesn't make it a hundred percent safe," Rin explained, placing one slim hand on the doorknob. She seemed hesitant about leaving, which surprised Miku – Rin was usually very difficult to read, but this time Miku thought that she could see uncertainty on her face. "It would be good if you could be careful," Rin finally spoke again, quietly clearing her throat. "Do not become complacent and assume that our protection is sufficient. You need to train yourself as well. There's no need for us women to rely on men, after all," Rin actually seemed to be smirking.

Miku did not know if Rin was being out of character or if she was simply seeing a more playful side to the blonde. But she decided not to question it for now – it was nice to see Rin joking around, or at least as close to joking as Rin could ever go. "I'll keep that in mind," she promised, though she regretted those words the very moment they came out from her mouth. Rin's almost-smirk became a real smile, albeit a small one, and the blonde nodded at her before she opened the door and slipped out.

She briefly contemplated going out after Rin, but decided against it – she still wasn't close enough to the hacker to be certain that she wouldn't become snappy if Miku followed her around. But either way she ought to leave the room – the knowledge that Ian stayed here made her feel nervous. It was as though the vicious man would just walk in here at any moment, and she definitely didn't want to be stuck in the same room as the _caporegime_. Ian was scarier than Yuma and Piko combined…

Speaking of Piko, she wondered what he was doing at the moment. He hadn't told her anything about where he was going and besides one or two texts, usually ordering her to fit another activity into his already hectic schedule, she didn't hear anything from him. She got a few missed calls, which were usually followed by some irate messages, but she hadn't actually spoken to him yet. It must be a very important conference for him to be so quiet – though, looking at his schedule, she didn't think he actually had anything arranged for the past few days? Miku didn't want to think about it though.

The less she knew, the better. The knowledge that Miki had been killed by Len was already shocking enough. If Piko was actually doing something illegal, she decided that she didn't want to know. She was only working for him as a personal assistant, and she had just _one_ job with Len – afterwards, she would never have to hold a gun again and she could just pretend that she knew nothing about this mysterious underworld. Nodding resolutely to herself, she stood up and walked shakily to the door, thinking that it was about time she went out to find someone. She almost fell over a few times on the way.

Just as she got to the door, her hand reaching out towards the doorknob, the bronze orb twisted and Miku froze as the door began to swing open. Hastily snatching her hand away, she took a step back as she came face-to-face with a surprised Ian, who was holding the door open with one hand and holding on to a handgun with the other. Her gaze darted to the gun and instantly, her heart began to race – Ian knew she was in his room. Why was he carrying a gun here? Did he intend to…kill her in her sleep?

The _capo_ 's deep blue eyes were wide, perhaps with shock that she was awake – she didn't know, and at that moment she didn't really care. Her attention was fixed solely on the gun in his hand. "Oh, you're up," he finally spoke, the surprise receding as his lips curled into a scowl. "I thought you would still be unconscious…you're so weak. How are you supposed to help us?" he gave her a scathing look, and suddenly she felt painfully self-conscious. Ian was irresistibly handsome, and having someone so beautiful stare at her as though she was some kind of gross bug made her feel rather pathetic. "Yuma wanted to know what was taking Rin so long, so he asked me to come over and take a look."

"She just left," Miku's voice was barely louder than a whisper. She was terrified of somehow pissing off the volatile man, who held his weapon with a casualness which showed just how familiar he was with the gun. There was no guessing what might anger Ian. Unlike Yuma, who was aloof and rational, Ian seemed very impulsive and reckless, thirsting for blood and brimming with anger. She didn't have to know him very well to guess that he didn't need much to be tipped over the edge, and she definitely didn't want to try and push his boundaries. "Did you run into her on the way here?"

Ian snorted. "Do you think I'll be here if I did?" he asked, that scathing look deepening. "Anyway, if you're up and about then clearly you're ready to resume training. We don't need anyone who's just lying around, wasting our resources, _fainting_ …" she didn't like the vibe she was getting from Ian and tried to subtly move away. "Why, am I scaring you?" he asked, noticing her shifting away from him. There was an evil grin on his face. "That's good. Continue to be scared," he tossed the gun to his other hand, studying it before raising his arm and pointing it directly at her. She froze, her heart pounding in her chest as Ian stared at her, his eyes narrowed and his smile fading from his face.

"Hah. You're so easy to scare. It's not even fun," he suddenly scoffed, throwing the gun into the air. Instinctively her hands reached out to catch it, and the weight of the gun – it was a familiar weight by now – settled nicely in her palm. "Kiddo, if I wanted you dead I wouldn't have carried you into my room – heck, I wouldn't even have let you live the first time we met," his eyes gleamed, now filled with humour. She did not understand why he found this situation entertaining. "You're under our boss's protection. Why, I don't know and I don't particularly care, but since he obviously favours you I'm not going to do anything to his woman. I owe my life to him," his words became very quiet.

"I'm not…I'm not _his_ woman…" she stammered, taken aback by what the _capo_ just said. Ian lifted his gaze, studying her intently, and she suddenly felt like he was looking right into her – he had piercing eyes that seemed capable of sifting out one's innermost thoughts. "I'm really not!" she protested. "We were a couple a few years ago but we broke up, and it's honestly a _coincidence_ that I'm working for him now – in fact, I met Len before I ran into Piko again," she added defiantly. She just didn't like the idea of being mistaken for Piko's girlfriend. The very thought opened up a few old wounds.

"Hmm, well if you say so," Ian shrugged. "Whatever. I don't care about your affairs or his, I just know that he spoke up for you and he warned me not to put you through the usual tests of loyalty and skill so you're safe from me. At least for now," he tilted his head, leaning against the door frame. Despite his casual stance, he looked like a tiger just waiting to pounce on her. She shuddered. "But one foot out of line, just one foot…and you'll see what I'm capable of," he warned. Miku nodded frantically and he yawned, turning around. "Let's get back to work then. You've rested long enough, and I want my personal space empty again so you need to get the hell out of here," he ordered. She quickly stepped out of the room and followed him as he led her back into the underground complex.

Her gaze remained on Ian's blond braid, which swung back and forth with every step the _capo_ took. He was unlike anyone else she had ever met, and she remembered him saying that the _capo_ called Kurotane was even worse than him…well, in that case she _definitely_ didn't want to meet Kurotane. Ian was terrifying enough. Why did all the men she ever met have to be screwed up in some way?

* * *

The room was dim. A man exhaled, grey smoke floating out from his half-open mouth. "Really? Weeks of investigation, and that's all you have to offer me?" he asked, the embers of the half-burnt cigarette glowing in the darkness. The man he was questioning trembled, terrified.

"It was difficult," he protested, "you know how carefully they tread. They issued an announcement stating that they weren't coming to the reveal, and there is no hint whatsoever about the otherwise being true. You know that they've been at odds with us ever since the Pentix Innovation –"

"Shut up," the first man said, so quietly that he almost missed the two words. He promptly clammed up, knowing that it would be stupid to continue when his boss was angry. "Do I pay you to tell me that something isn't possible? You _sell_ information. And you take plenty of my money every month, don't you?" there was a tangible sense of threat in the atmosphere now, and the man shuddered, fearing for his life. "You have one last chance. I do not believe that Honne Dell will not be sending anyone to the QuixCam reveal. The one thing that rat knows how to do is to sniff out competition."

"But…but he knows that your company is the one behind QuixCam, why would he risk sending one of his men there?" the informant stuttered, his tongue almost paralysed with fear. He still couldn't be sure exactly if he would come out of this safe or not – though his boss said that he had one last chance, it didn't mean he wouldn't cut off a finger or two. He really hoped to keep all his fingers intact. The first man leant forward, grinding his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. The embers glowed.

"Because this isn't about business," he growled. "It has _never_ been about business. It has always been about his stupid, reckless pursuit of revenge – he never knows when to stop. He has to always take it too far. Did he even love that woman?" he spat. "He never married her, never gave her any name or status. So what right does he have to press on with this matter? I am _sick_ of dealing with the Palermo scum. But the cycle continues until either one of us are willing to take it up to the Commission – and, of course, I'd hate to back down. Either he surrenders, or we continue to war."

The informant wisely decided to hold his tongue. Nodding, he scurried out of the office as quickly as possible, knowing that he was fortunate to make it out of the room alive and in one piece. His boss was not a forgiving man, and he despised failures or mistakes. Then again, no _don_ would allow their subordinates to trip up, since the slightest mistake could lead to the authorities hunting them down. The man shivered, remembering how his companion had mysteriously disappeared last week after being spotted talking to a policeman…the Commission and _famiglie_ had extremely strict rules, and one of them was to not interact with any law enforcers. Breaking that rule usually meant capture, interrogation and death. The poor sucker's body was probably at the bottom of the ocean by now.

"Hey, you," he whipped around when someone addressed him, recognising the voice – it belonged to one of the four _caporegimes_ , though he could never remember their names. This one was the one with bright red hair and strange eyes – one of them was a normal eye, as red as his hair, while the other was completely scarlet, lacking the whites and the pupil. He found this _capo_ to be particularly unnerving and sometimes wondered if he could even see out of that deformed left eye. He was the quietest _capo_ , but he had heard rumours about the shy, quiet one being the most dangerous…the _capo_ was looking curiously at him, wearing his usual flashy top hat and carrying an oddly shaped walking stick. The hat and the walking stick just contributed to his strange appearance – almost like a gentleman, but not quite. "You just met our _don_ , right? Did he talk about how we should proceed?"

The informant shook his head. "There isn't enough information. So far my sources insist that Hyrex will not be sending any representative to the press conference, but…the _don_ thinks otherwise, so I'm leaving to search for more information," he explained. The redhead made a sound of understanding, and he nodded respectfully before he turned to leave. But once more, the _capo_ called out to him and he turned around, wondering what else the man wanted. He was beginning to feel creeped out.

"I'm surprised you were allowed to walk free," the redhead observed. "See, usually our _don_ is not so forgiving. I suppose some of his cruelty rubbed off onto me," he shifted the walking stick from hand to hand, a strange smile curving his lips. "You know, I was a surgeon before I got into all this business. I wanted to be a doctor ever since I was born because I have this unexplainable eye defect and it always made me wonder why I was so different from the others. The funny thing is, I can see perfectly well! They diagnosed me with leukocoria, but in the end it wasn't exactly that either…oh, I digress. I'm boring you, aren't I?" the _capo_ grinned. "I'll get straight to the point. What I wanted to say is that, as a former surgeon, I know exactly _where_ to cut to put you in the most pain…so don't fail this time," he knocked his walking stick against the floor and the informant stumbled back as a sharp blade shot out from the tip, the metal glinting in the light.

He quickly agreed, and the _capo_ held up the walking stick, looking almost lovingly at it before giving him a jaunty wink. "Well, it's nice that we understand each other then. I have a lot more blades hidden in places you can't see. People shouldn't be able to tell when or where they'll get stabbed, don't you think?" though his tone was light-hearted, his crimson eyes were filled with serious intent.

The informant was glad when the _capo_ patted him on the shoulder and went on his way, whistling with his hidden blade slung behind his back. It was encounters like these that made him wonder why he chose this path – did he really want to be roped into an organisation full of fear and danger? But he knew that logically, this was the best thing he could do. He was a criminal, and criminals had a better chance of surviving with an organisation like this than out on the streets, fighting against other gangsters and worse. At least here, if he became a _soldato_ , he would have protection…

Provided he didn't get himself killed and thrown into the ocean, of course. He sighed. His life would depend on the results of his investigation, so he should get to work and stop wasting valuable time.

* * *

"Let me ask you a question," Ian spoke thoughtfully as they observed Miku shooting, her pale hands clearly trembling as she squeezed the trigger over and over again. "If I, ah…accidentally shoot her or something, would that get me into trouble?" he tilted his head. Yuma stared incredulously at him.

"Yes, it definitely would. No one here would believe for even a second that you shot her by sheer accident," Yuma deadpanned. Ian sighed irritably and flicked his blond fringe away from his eyes, squinting at the girl. She was utterly hopeless. Ian could probably shoot better than her even with a blindfold on and his hands tied behind his back. "She will improve; she is already doing a lot better than she did on the first day!" Yuma pointed out. Ian rolled his eyes. Yuma, ever the optimistic one…

"Do we honestly need a liability like her?" he lowered his voice so that the teal haired girl wouldn't hear him. Not that he really needed to worry. Her earmuffs and the ringing echoes of each gunshot should mask his words. "I understand that she is to accompany the assassin to Paris, but…why are we bothering to waste resources on training her? If she is stupid enough to get captured by the Venetians, then let it be! We don't pay people to be stupid. Our boss ought to just let her die."

"You know that he is fond of her," Yuma pointed out. "He already made it very clear to the three of us that she is not to be harmed, not even in punishment for any transgression. He didn't even tell his brother about her. It goes to show that she does hold a special place in his heart, even if I can't exactly figure out why," he concluded, gazing thoughtfully at Miku. Ian wanted to groan – all this was just way too sappy. This talk about emotions and importance…in his book, anyone who was not able to learn or perform quick enough deserved to be eliminated. They had no time for pity.

"Emotions are a waste of time and mental capacity. People are just small specks of dust floating through a vast, apathetic universe. No one cares about anyone else but themselves," he said flatly. "Sentimentality is the number one killer on this planet, Yuma. If we could all put aside useless things such as emotions, life would be so much simpler. It would just be about efficiency and speed. No more talk of morals or rights or other subjective things like that. Life would be so much simpler…" he repeated stubbornly.

"And so much more boring too," Yuma added quietly. Ian didn't bother to respond to that. Yuma had his own _sentimental_ opinion, and Ian had his. It wasn't like he got into this life out of fun and excitement. He wasn't here to lead an interesting life. He was here because he didn't want to die, as simple as that. Idly, he traced the tattoos hidden beneath his sweatshirt – the marks of a former life, one that was full of danger and uncertainty. He had enough of an exciting life, and now all he wanted was stability. Utatane Piko had picked him up from the streets, forced him into rehab, and now he was someone that the old him could never have imagined becoming. He had been reborn into this life.

He knew he owed the _capo bastone_ his life. Without Piko, he would probably still be getting into street fights, going in and out of jail…or quite possibly dead by now. He had been addicted to crack once, and even now he still struggled against the desire for more. Keeping himself busy, removing himself from his emotions, helped greatly with that. He didn't want anyone to see how defeated he was underneath the harsh, unforgiving surface. The fewer people knew about his past, the better – as of now, only Piko and Yuma knew anything about his background. The other two _capos_ , who came after him, did not know, and Ian was glad to keep it that way. "I hope you're not intending to go to Paris with that level of skill," he barked, marching towards Miku. "You'll shoot Len before you hit one of the enemies. Giving you a gun clearly isn't one of the better ideas our boss had," he drawled.

Miku slid her earmuffs down, giving him an affronted look. He was amused by the fact that this girl, who had shown such fear of him just a while ago, could now look at him so indignantly. Either she was stupidly careless or recklessly brave. At this point, he wasn't sure which one would be worse. "I don't think I'm that bad…Yuma said that I got better yesterday!" she pointed out, looking hopefully towards the pink haired _capo_. Yuma nodded encouragingly, and she smiled, giving him a triumphant look. Maybe she was just bolder because Yuma was here. She seemed to see him as a shield of sorts.

"I'm not saying you didn't improve – I can't say that since I wasn't even here yesterday," Ian retorted irritably, "I'm just saying that right now you're so pathetic that you'd do more damage to our own people than to anyone else. You should just do your best to stay out of trouble instead of bringing a weapon into Paris and firing it wildly whenever you feel threatened. _You're_ the biggest threat there," he snapped. Miku looked, for just a quick moment, very hurt, but he ignored her face. He was only yelling at her so that she would toughen up. Well, he did mean what he said too, but on the bright side she might develop a thicker hide. They couldn't have some mewling weakling on their side now, could they?

"I'll do better!" she promised. Ian gave her a long look, taking in her determined fervour and the green eyes, sparking with energy and promise. Maybe she did have some potential. He didn't dare to say anything too soon, since he was a cynical man who learnt ages ago that people would only end up disappointing you, but he wanted to believe that their boss had chosen a decent person for once. "Although I really don't see why I need to be super proficient with a gun, since everyone says that it should be a quick and easy mission and I'm not even supposed to be doing anything," she hesitated. "But Yuma says that it's good to learn how to protect myself so I guess I should try my best," she shrugged.

Ian glanced back at his fellow _capo_. Yuma gave him a warning look and he understood – the girl did not know any specifics about the case. She genuinely thought that the mission would be easy, and all she'd have to do was to pretend to be Len's wife. She had no idea what was going to happen in Paris – the presence of the Venice and Paris _famiglie_ , the assassination, the _consigliere_ who guessed he was facing death…no, she didn't know anything. And it would clearly be best to keep her in the dark.

"Yes, self-defence is good to know," he said smoothly, whipping out his own pistol and pointing it at the target – he fired three times, the paper target fluttering in the wind as each bullet went through the centre, every shot precise and controlled. "But learning how to shoot is utterly useless if you can't learn it properly, don't you agree? I'm not even the best shot we have here," he looked at Yuma, who just continued to stare impassively at them. "You don't have _time_ , new girl. You fly off in less than a month. Do you think that Len will have time to pander to your every need? I assure you that he will not, and no one will be there to rescue you if you get into any sticky situations," he warned.

"Hey, hey, Ian," Len's voice suddenly rang out through the room, and everyone turned around to see the assassin sidling into the shooting range, a wide smile on his face. "You don't need to say that so straightforwardly…I'll always make time for you if I can, Miku," he winked at her. Ian saw the faintest hint of red bloom across the girl's cheeks at Len's arrival and determined that she was, at the very least, attracted to the blond assassin. He glanced at Yuma again and saw the pink haired _capo_ shake his head, a miniscule movement that would have been so easily missed if Ian didn't happen to look at that exact moment. He shared the same opinion as Yuma. Miku was making a very bad choice.

"Okay, Miku, go take a quick break, I'm sure you're tired," Yuma walked towards them now, holding out his hand towards the girl. She dropped the gun into his palm, looking almost relieved to be away from the weapon, and hurried off towards the assassin. Ian knew that Len had probably just finished off all the rogue dealers and was back to file his report. That was surprisingly fast – but then again, Len had always been a quick worker, and from what he understood there had only been five rogues on the list still alive this morning, anyway. It was quite a feat, and Ian grudgingly admitted that he was impressed.

"You told me that Miki was visiting her family!" he saw Miku hissing at Len. Len grimaced – the two of them were talking quietly to each other, but Ian was pretty good at lip-reading and could figure out what the teal haired girl was saying. Len caught his eye and frowned, almost a plea for help, but Ian was quite content to remain where he was and simply watch the drama unfold. This was one reason why he never went around dating people. His job was too damn complicated and messy for him to share it with anyone. The last thing he wanted was some woman with her high-and-mighty morals breathing down his neck, questioning his every action. He had absolutely no time for that.

"Well…technically she _was_ …most of her family is dead," Len offered. Ian resisted the urge to snort at that and quickly looked away when Miku glanced over at him and Yuma, checking to see whether the two _capos_ were eavesdropping. Yuma was standing near the table, inspecting some firearms, and Ian busied himself with polishing a bunch of machetes. He had brought the machetes out from his personal weapon arsenal and laid them on the same table as Yuma's guns – Ian could shoot well since he was a _caporegime_ after all, but he still preferred his blades. Messy, practical and deadly. So much more fun and enjoyable than a clean bullet wound. Here was where he found his excitement.

"You could have just told me from the very beginning that she was dead!" Miku's voice was getting slightly louder now as a result of her agitation. Ian pretended that he couldn't hear anything, looking at his machetes lovingly and picking up a ragged cloth to begin polishing the metal blades. He had a bunch of other knives in his arsenal, but his machetes got the most attention. He had a grand total of five and was always looking to expand his personal collection. All five had different handles with beautifully intricate designs, made by expert craftsmen, and he was extremely proud of them.

"Piko was the one who told you she was visiting her family! I just followed suit!" Len protested. Ian shook his head now, catching Yuma's eye – the _capo_ seemed more annoyed than concerned, looking up every once in a while from his dismantled handgun to frown at the couple. "And even if he didn't say anything about Miki I still wouldn't have admitted she was dead. I mean, it's not necessary for you to know about that, right?" he reasoned with her. "Who told you about this anyway?" he added.

Yuma quickly looked down, and Ian gave him a curious look. So the _capo_ was the one who blabbed. Not that Ian particularly cared, anyway. He had never believed in mollycoddling people. Keeping Miku in the dark forever would do her more harm than good, especially if she wanted to survive in the grim underbelly of their world. Knowledge was power here, but too much knowledge could get you killed as well. "Um…that's not important!" Miku stuttered. "What's important is that you were lying to me! I know you want to protect me, but…" she paused. "Just don't do that again, all right? I mean, I might not like knowing about murders, but…I think it's better than just outright lying to me if I actually ask you about them," she muttered. Len sighed, then reached out to ruffle her hair.

She withdrew, protesting as she batted his hand away, and the assassin laughed in response. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since Ian last saw Len actually looking anything but serious. He wasn't sure if this was a good or bad change, though. The last thing they needed was a hired killer who started to care for someone else – the moment their assassin had other priorities, their entire mission would be jeopardised. Hopefully the boss would talk some sense into him. Kagamine Len's contract and loyalties should lie, first and foremost, to their boss and to the company. He had no time for annoying, single-minded girls who thought that murder was abhorrent and nothing else.

Ian couldn't stand preachers. What did those pricks know of their life, of the struggle to exist in a world where friends stabbed each other in the back and blood flowed more often than water did? Murder was commonplace here. It was either kill or be killed, after all. If Miku couldn't adapt to that way of thinking quick enough, if she nosed around where she wasn't welcome, then she would learn that lesson the hard way…he hissed as he felt a familiar sting in his finger and saw that, while he was polishing the sharp edge of his machete, his hand slipped and he cut himself. Dropping the knife and the cloth, he peered curiously at the little red bead of blood which formed on his injured finger.

Blood, so bright and vivid. It had been a long time since he last saw a genuine bloodbath, and honestly he kind of missed it. Ever since Piko took control of the _famiglia_ – for everyone knew by now that their _don_ was no more than a mere figurehead – the number of fights their _famiglia_ got into had steadily decreased. A good thing of course, but very dull as well. He actually missed fighting. Him and his _soldato_ , the men in the family who were the most bloodthirsty and vengeful, were craving a good, sweet fight.

Maybe the Paris trip would bring some about unintended consequences besides the inevitable worsening of the bitter feud that already existed between the Palermo and Venetian _famiglie_. Maybe it would not and everything would end there, in France. Either way, he and his men were prepared to face the worst, and he would not just face it – he would enjoy every single second of it too. He lifted the bleeding finger to his lips, sucking on the cut – for such a big knife it was a remarkably small cut, which meant he was somewhat fortunate – and, at the same time, observing Len and Miku talking.

They certainly seemed to get along. But the girl's defensiveness with regards to Piko seemed to hint at something more between her and his boss, too. Not that Ian particularly cared, since he served Piko with unwavering loyalty and would never question anything unless told to do so, but her odd reaction then certainly caught his interest. He never thought that his boss could like anyone in that way before, since as the _capo bastone_ falling in love with any person was particularly dangerous for him. If this girl ended up meaning something to Piko, he would have to protect her the same way all the _caporegimes_ – with the understandable exception of Kurotane Piko – protected their underboss.

Normally, he wouldn't mind doing that. Ian would do anything that their _capo bastone_ ordered him to do. But, as he continued to suck on his bleeding finger while staring at the secretary and the assassin, he couldn't help but wonder if this girl was really worth the effort needed to protect her.


	12. Chapter 12

Miku went to Greybird Road alone today, and Yuma greeted her as usual at the main door – however, this time he seemed uneasy. She didn't think too much of it since with Ian around, anyone would feel uneasy. She and the _capo_ made small talk as they walked towards the shooting range.

But when the door opened and she glimpsed a familiar person with silver hair sitting on the table, his legs crossed as he sipped from a teacup, Miku froze and stared. Utatane Piko lifted his gaze and looked straight at her, and for that moment she panicked. Piko had not told her that he would be returning today. Of course she knew he was returning soon, he did tell her he'd be back in around three days, but…she wasn't prepared for this! She wasn't ready to let him judge her shooting!

"Yuma," Piko called, setting the cup down on the table. The _capo_ beside her went towards him, and Piko sighed. "Ian has informed me that he accidentally landed one of the _soldato_ in hospital last night. I know that you are not in charge of this compound, but since you are here, could you watch out for his men and ensure that their _caporegime_ doesn't do anything stupid?" he asked plaintively.

Yuma nodded, and Miku just shook her head in silent disbelief. She shouldn't be surprised that Ian had done something like this since he had threatened to make her suffer if she did a single thing wrong, but she never really thought that he would actually hurt one of his soldiers, accidentally or not. It was hard to believe that Ian did anything by accident, to be honest. "What was he doing, anyway?" Piko muttered. "He refused to go into the details, so I decided to ask you instead."

"He was testing out a new bazooka and destroyed part of the complex. The collapsed rock ceiling crushed the man in the next room," Yuma answered flatly. Piko rolled his eyes and sighed, while Miku continued to look on incredulously. Bazooka? Wasn't that some kind of missile launcher or something? What the heck was Ian doing, firing missiles underground? Suddenly, she was glad that she didn't live here with the rest of the _soldato_. Ian just became more and more frightening…

"As long as the man doesn't die, it'll be fine," Piko said dismissively. "If he _did_ die Ian would have to be punished, but as of now it's enough to just strip him of weapon privileges for a few days. He's grouchy enough about it, so I wouldn't recommend going anywhere near him until the ban is lifted," Piko cautioned. Yuma nodded again, and Piko picked up his teacup once more. "My cup is empty. Go get me some tea, please," he handed the cup to the _capo_. Yuma took hold of the cup and, giving her a strange look, turned and walked out of the shooting range. The door swung shut behind him.

"I didn't know you were coming back today," she finally decided to speak as the silence between her and Piko continued to stretch on. Piko looked up at her, surprise on his face, and she swallowed. "I mean, um…I would have dressed better if I knew you were coming!" she blurted out, aware that she was extremely underdressed compared to him. Even back in university, going out with Piko always made her feel like she ought to dress up a little, and now was no different. She was in a tank top and sweatpants since she knew that no one here actually cared what she wore, while Piko was dressed in a suit as usual. Today's suit was dark navy and there wasn't even a single wrinkle on it, while she was wearing a top she had sort of just picked up from the floor…she wasn't even sure if it was washed.

Piko blinked. "That isn't important," he waved his hand, getting up from the table. He was noticeably taller than her at his full height, and he seemed so oblivious to her panic that she wanted to just run out of the room. It wasn't about whether or not he thought it was important – she personally felt so out of place beside him that it was making her nervous. She looked so… _dowdy_. "We're here to view your performance with a gun, so what does it matter what you wear? We're not in the office now."

Oh. Her performance with a gun. She had forgotten about that. She gave him a nervous smile. "Ah, speaking of that…" she still wasn't particularly good yet. She was shooting closer to the centre and most of her shots actually hit the target now – Len's silly tip about aiming upwards to rectify the problem of the shots going too low was surprisingly helpful, along with his comment about looking through the front sight rather than at the target itself – but her aim was still terribly inconsistent. Yesterday, Ian's remarkable accuracy and precision had shocked her, and she found herself aspiring to hit that level of marksmanship. Not that she had to, but it might make Ian respect her more.

"Don't tell me you haven't learnt how to use a gun yet?" Piko's shocked voice rang out through the shooting range, and she hastily shushed him, looking around. There was no one else here and even if there was, her lack of skill wasn't some terrible secret or anything, but she felt self-conscious about her ability to shoot. Ian probably would have told Piko yes and discredited all her improvement thus far. "Oh, so you have. Show me what you've got then, go on," he pushed her forward, ignoring her protests.

"I don't have the earmuffs or anything," she tried to stall for time. She was suddenly remembering Len's comment about how Piko was actually a very good marksman, and that if she wasn't accurate enough for his standards by the time he returned, she'd probably receive a scolding…no, she knew she definitely wasn't good enough for Piko yet. Even Len, who was by far the nicest one to her around here, had admitted that she still had a long way to go. "I'll go deaf if I hear the gunshots!"

Piko gave her a steady look. "No you won't," he replied evenly. "We only use the earmuffs if there are many people all firing at the same time. Only _then_ is it deafening. The sound one gun makes isn't going to kill you," he patted her on the shoulder, forcing her to stand right in front of the target. "Here, let's not waste any more time. Use mine," Piko produced a handgun from out of seemingly nowhere, and Miku gaped at him – where had he concealed that thing? He held the gun out, waiting for her to take it, and hesitantly she accepted the gun, which gleamed menacingly under the lights.

"I'm still not very good at this yet," she admitted as she held it up, her arms trembling slightly. Piko smiled, standing by her side and waiting for her to shoot. Even from here she could smell the crisp, fresh scent of his cologne. It was the same one as the one he always wore, two years ago. Nice to know that some things didn't change. Her nerves made her hyperaware of everything that was going on around her, and she thought she could practically hear Piko breathing. Her palms were sweaty.

"I don't expect you to be an expert marksman. I just want to know that you can pull a trigger and actually hit something, even if it's not a vital organ," Piko attempted to reassure her. His words, however, were not particularly reassuring. Hit a vital organ? Did he actually expect her to shoot a man? It was a scary thought. She didn't want to hurt anyone…though everyone kept saying that she should learn how as self-defence, she still found it hard to believe that she'd actually have to use a gun on anyone. Surely Paris wouldn't be so dangerous that she would have to shoot a person, right?

"I can shoot, don't worry about that," she swallowed. Her throat felt dry. For some reason, she felt like a student with bad exam results, preparing to show her result slip to her overbearing parents. Actually, that described her situation really well. It had been a while since she last cared about her results, because in her university days it had been more important that she earn money for her brother than work for good grades. By then her father was dead, and her mother was depressed anyway. In the past though, Miku had been extremely conscientious about her results, and anything less than an A absolutely terrified her. This situation was making her recall those unwelcome memories.

"All right, then show me what you can do. Preferably before Yuma returns, because I'm sure that the more people there are watching you, the more nervous you'll become," he folded his arms across his chest, watching her intently. She sneaked a glance at him – Piko's face was calm, revealing no hint of what he was thinking, and his mismatched eyes peered closely at her, watching her every movement. She swallowed and, taking a deep breath to prepare herself, she undid the safety latch and aimed at the target. This was the moment she had been preparing for. Piko was her boss and she had to impress him! If she did, maybe he would give her a pay raise? She had to be optimistic.

Trying to steady her hands, she took aim at the target, looking through the front sight as Len told her to. The gun was an extension of her arm, she remembered. Preparing herself for the recoil, she lifted the gun and pulled the trigger – there was the customary loud crack as the bullet left the barrel, and she took a look at where the bullet hit. She was horrified to see that the target seemed intact – she hadn't missed the target ever since…yesterday! She glanced at Piko to see his reaction, and saw that he was frowning slightly. Swallowing, she turned back towards the target and took aim again.

This time, the bullet hit closer to home, but it was still unacceptably far away from the centre. She wanted to groan. Why did Piko's presence make things so much harder? She really had been doing a lot better yesterday. Frustrated, she fired again and again, and each time the bullet got closer and closer, though it never managed to go through dead centre. There was a clicking sound, and she realised that she had run out of bullets – she had fired ten rounds, of which seven hit the target.

"That's not too bad," Piko spoke. His voice seemed very far away, and she suddenly realised that her ears were ringing. "Here, pass it back to me," she did so willingly and he took hold of the gun. When he held it, the black weapon seemed to fit so naturally in his hand. "I didn't expect much out of this since you've never used a gun before, but you can actually hit the target…of course, I was a little worried when your first shot missed completely, and you did have two more which didn't hit, but you're not doing too badly," he smiled at her. She was breathing heavily from the exertion, and she looked away from him because it still felt really awkward. He sounded somewhat…well, patronising.

"Really? I'm not a super terrible shot or anything?" she asked carefully. "Because yesterday Ian said that I'd probably hurt Len or something if I tried to shoot anyone in Paris," she admitted. The rough _capo_ 's words had stuck in her head the whole night. She didn't think she was really that bad, and Yuma was very encouraging as well, but Ian's brusque words somehow hit home. What on earth was she doing, pretending to know how to operate a gun? She was just a civilian. She had no part to play in the criminal world and she had never been fond of violence. What was she doing here, really?

Piko rolled his eyes. "Ignore Ian, his opinion isn't worth anything," he reassured her. "The only opinion which really matters for this mission is Len's, since he _is_ the one going to Paris after all…and mine, since I'm the one overseeing the entire thing. And if I say that you're not doing too badly, then you should believe me. Ian's a far worse shot than I am," Piko's lips quirked upwards. She frowned at that – Ian had hit dead centre without flinching yesterday. How could anyone be better than that?

Piko turned back to the table, placing the empty gun there. He took another gun, one of Yuma's, which was lying on the same table. "You don't believe me, do you?" he asked. She made a face – how was she supposed to respond to that? She couldn't just say the truth since Piko was her boss. But the silver haired man shook his head and continued to smile, heading back towards her. She watched warily as Piko tossed the gun from hand to hand, stopping when he reached her side. "Very well, since you don't believe me then I'm afraid that the only thing I can do is to demonstrate for you."

Suddenly, he held out the handgun and shot rapidly, taking no pause, across the ten targets that stretched throughout the shooting range. She could hear the loud crack, see the gun jump up and down as Piko fired, but the man was calm and steady the whole time, his arm never wavering. When he shot past her, she flinched, the bullet coming slightly too close to her for her comfort. Ten rounds later, the gun was spent and Piko turned towards her. "Take a look at the targets," he invited.

So she did, and she stared, unable to believe her eyes – from where he stood, right in front of the central target, he had managed to hit every single one, and right in the middle of each target too. All ten targets, including hers, had a single hole in the black bullseye, and she knew that he hadn't even budged an inch. She went to the furthest two targets to take a look and saw that they were pierced through the bullseye as well – and Piko hadn't taken a single step towards either his left or right to hit them. How had he managed to do such a thing? It seemed almost inhuman.

"Oh, that's easy. Don't look so surprised. Now if there had been a wall between each target what I did just now would have been impossible, but from here it's actually quite easy to see every single one. They're very close to each other, after all. You just have to know how to aim," Piko shrugged, passing the empty gun to her. She took hold of it suspiciously, squinting at the weapon – it was still difficult to believe that Piko had managed to hit all the targets without moving at all. She knew she never could have done it. Don't even talk about hitting bullseye – she was sure she would have missed the target completely, especially those on the far ends of the shooting range. Especially not if she had to stand here and shoot without moving!

"I'm never going to be as good as anyone else here," she fretted, staring helplessly down at Yuma's gun. She heard an audible sigh, then suddenly she felt a pair of arms encircling her – she stiffened, and Piko's hands gently enveloped hers, stretching her arms out so that she was poised to shoot. He was standing right behind her, and she could feel his warm breath against the back of her neck. She had chosen to tie her hair up into a ponytail today, and his breath caused sudden bumps to form on her exposed skin. His cologne – which she was secretly rather fond of, and had actually used a few times before back when they were a couple – washed over her, and automatically she closed her eyes, inhaling the familiar scent. It had been a while since she last smelled this. When she was working with him for that one day, they were never really so close that she could smell him so clearly.

"Relax," Piko whispered, "don't think so much about trying to hit the bullseye. We all start small, so just focus on hitting the target first. Then, when you're steady enough to consistently hit the same place over and over again, we transit to targeting the bullseye. Precision and accuracy, both are important," his voice was husky in her ear. She was suddenly reminded of how they were once in this exact same position, just minus the clothes they were currently wearing – they had been in his room, in his mansion near the school, and that husky voice was a low, sensuous murmur in her ear…

Her heart was racing. "Okay," she whispered back, forcing herself to do as he said, but her mind was filled with thoughts about other things. Her face was starting to heat up. This was way too intimate! And Piko wasn't her boyfriend anymore, he was her boss! She should stop thinking about those memories – though his proximity was making it extremely difficult. His hands guided hers. "It's better to look through the front sight, right?" she checked, anything to distract her mind from these bad thoughts.

"Yes, that's right. The back sight is important too. Make sure that they align properly before you fire, but if you really have no choice other than to use just one, then the front sight is more important," he explained. His voice was still soft and intense, and she could feel herself beginning to melt into a puddle of nerves and anxiety. He was just way too close. If she had to last another moment longer in this weird embrace, she would probably…she didn't know what she'd do, but she definitely wouldn't be able to concentrate for any longer. His breath was still washing over her neck, and she thought she could feel him leaning closer.

"Ah, boss? I brought your tea," Yuma's voice rang out through the room, thankfully rescuing her from her bizarre situation. Piko released her and she let out a quiet sigh of relief, blessing the _capo_ for coming back in the very nick of time. Piko turned towards the pink haired _caporegime_ , who was carefully holding on to a cup of tea and staring curiously at the both of them. "Do you want me to put it down somewhere, or…?" his voice trailed off. Miku had no idea how much Yuma had seen and what he thought of her relationship with Piko, but she hoped that he didn't have the wrong idea.

"Just give it to me," Piko answered, reaching out a hand. Yuma, still carefully holding on to the cup, walked over to them and passed Piko the tea, thankfully coming between them in the process. Piko did not seem to be annoyed by the intrusion as he sipped from the cup, closing his eyes thoughtfully. "Let me guess. Earl Grey?" he asked. Yuma nodded, and Piko shook his head. "I thought I asked that you stop serving me black tea. Don't we have other kinds? Green tea is much better, if you want my honest opinion," he stated, moving away to place the cup on the table. Yuma looked like he wanted to argue. "No, don't start. I know you love black tea, but you need to put other kinds in the pantry too," Piko added without even looking up at the _caporegime_. Yuma shut his mouth sullenly, and Miku giggled.

It was the first time she saw Yuma actually taking a side about anything. The man was usually so remarkably neutral that he reminded her of a pool of water, the calm surface unbroken by any ripple or disturbance, the true depth of the pool unknown. He was mysterious, his thoughts impossible to guess – the most she could do was just trust that everything he told her was the truth, and that he was not telling her that her aim was improving simply because he wanted to make her feel better.

"Where's Ian?" she suddenly spoke, remembering the existence of the other _capo_. If Yuma was the one who might want to make her feel better, than Ian was the complete opposite. From Piko and Yuma's short exchange earlier, she knew that Ian was facing some kind of weapons ban, but she didn't know where the _caporegime_ was at the moment – which was odd, because she would think that Ian was always around Piko, given his loyalty to the silver haired man. The other two gave her curious looks, and she fidgeted self-consciously. "I just figured that he would have arrived by now…"

"Sulking in his room, most probably," Piko was the one to answer. "He hates it when I ban him from using weapons. It's the worst kind of punishment anyone can give Ian," he snorted. "He's so trigger-happy that he'd give my half-brother a run for his money…oh well, he might as well take the time to reflect on his actions. He shouldn't have been testing ballistics underground in the first place."

Miku didn't hear any of that – in fact, she only focused on one part of his rant, on those two words Piko had uttered so casually that it took a few seconds before she realised how strange they were. "You have a half-brother?" she asked, surprised. Piko nodded, though he exchanged a look with Yuma – the _capo_ had his brow furrowed, almost as if he was worried about something. "I never knew that," she frowned. "You never brought him up before. Does he know about…all this?" she waved her hand vaguely, indicating the shooting range and everything else Piko was a part of.

"Yes, he does," Piko suddenly sounded very tired. "But it'd be good if you didn't run into him. Ian might have anger issues, but at least he isn't competitive. My half-brother, Kurotane, is ruthless and ambitious, driven by a lust for power. You wouldn't want to meet him," there was a ring of finality in his words, but she wasn't interested in finding out more anyway. The mention of 'Kurotane' was already enough warning. Anyone Ian said was worse than him wasn't someone she'd want to bump into.

"Where is he, anyway?" Yuma asked. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Kurotane for a few days. Ian and I went to send Kiyo off when he left but Kurotane didn't show up. Is he busy?" Piko was fiddling around with the emptied guns while Yuma spoke. The steaming cup of tea was between the two men, momentarily forgotten. She watched as Piko reloaded one of the guns, snapping the clip in and pointing experimentally with the firearm. Yuma didn't say anything else, just waiting for his boss to reply, and she fidgeted as the silence stretched on. Piko went on to reload the second empty gun. It was the first time she saw Piko actually behaving this way, as though he was hesitant about giving any sort of response, and it made her a little curious about his relationship with his half-brother.

"The _don_ sent him to do something a few days ago. Right before I flew to Russia," he answered after he was done reloading the second gun, putting both firearms aside. "It's nothing important, but he won't be back for a month. He has a lot to do there," his face was blank and he seemed reluctant to say anything more, so neither she nor Yuma probed. Piko turned away from them, grabbing the coat which she only now noticed, draped across one of the chairs surrounding the table. "I have other business to attend to for the _don_. Miku, you continue to stay here and practice your aim. Yuma, come with me," he put the coat back on, snapping the buttons together. "Get Ian to supervise her until we're back, it's better than just letting him sulk in his room," he threw over his shoulder as he walked out.

Yuma gave her an apologetic smile, patting her on the shoulder. She stared back at the _capo_ with panic all over her face, not wanting to spend any time alone with a grouchy Ian, but he just sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, Boss's orders. Besides, Ian won't do anything to hurt you…not physically at least. Just try to put up with him, it probably won't be for long," he promised. "I'll give him a call now, so just wait here until he arrives," Yuma hurried out of the room too, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Miku just sank onto one of the chairs, slumping over the table in defeat. Today was going to be a bad day.

* * *

"Smoke?" the man held a cigarette out to him, the embers glowing bright orange in the dim room. Len shook his head, declining the offer, and the man shrugged. "Suit yourself," he stuck the cigarette back in his mouth. "So, master assassin, what have you been up to lately? Haven't seen you around much."

Len cracked open a can of beer, downing the chilled drink in seconds. His eyes were heavy and he looked peaceful, almost sleepy, but the people in the underground pub knew that he could murder everyone in the establishment within a matter of minutes, so no one tried to approach him. This underground pub was run by a friend of Pyre Leaf Inn's owner, and both men faced similar situations – they couldn't ever close down these places and move away, because they would almost certainly be hunted down by the underworld. For now, however, these establishments were valuable sources of information – they were a safe location, and people who could be easily bought over with money or services frequented these places. This informant Len was speaking to right now was one of those people.

"Nothing much," Len answered. He had a good rest last night but he was still slightly tired. It was quite draining actually, having to get rid of fifty people. But he had managed it. He was still trying to decide if five hundred per head was worth getting off his ass to sweep out the underlings. What could he get with five hundred dollars? "I was sent on a bunch of petty errands and I just finished them so I'm taking some time off to enjoy myself. What about you? Heard about anything interesting lately?"

Len liked to know about everything that was going on in the underworld. He had to actually, if he wanted to make his own life easier. Admittedly, Piko was the one who usually forced him to find out more about the comings and goings of the criminal world. But Len himself also required knowledge about the movements of street gangs, where the latest brothel had popped up, where drug addicts were beginning to congregate…he had to know all this since, if his boss ever gave him the order to wipe them all out, he didn't want to waste time running around town, trying to figure out where his targets were hiding. It was always important for a skilled assassin to have general knowledge about a particular area and its criminal activities. Other assassins relied on whatever information was provided to them by their client, but since Len was bound by contract to his boss, his case was a little different.

"Interesting, hmm?" the man said thoughtfully, breathing out some cigarette smoke. Len resisted the urge to wave the smoke away and remained where he was seated. "I might have seen a few of the Red Scorpions on the move. But you know I can't tell you anything more without getting something in return," he smiled, and a gold tooth gleamed. Len scowled, snapping his fingers – the frazzled looking bartender came over with another beer, trying to crack it open for Len. But he was trembling so badly that his fingers could barely pull the tab. Len sighed in frustration and grabbed the can.

Of course the bartender was terrified. The last time Len was here he got into a pretty foul mood and killed off two men who kept on taunting him, trying to intimidate him into handing over all his cash just because he wasn't carrying any weapon on him at that time. What they weren't aware of was that he knew more than fifty different ways to kill someone without using a weapon – plus, a broken billiards cue could actually be pretty deadly when placed in the right hands. His story was legendary around here.

"Who do you want dead?" he finally asked. A petty man with petty tasks. Len almost considered shooting him and finding a new informant, but it would take too much effort. Good informants were difficult to come by. The man closed his eyes and took a drag, parting his lips and letting the smoke escape again. Len drank his beer, waiting for a response. He knew the man had someone in mind.

"There's this little slut in the whorehouse down Bentley Road, you know the brothel that opened up last month. One of them, the blonde bitch with the green eyes, she's an ex of mine. We broke up because she was sleeping together with a former buddy," his informant finally said. "I want the both of them dead. She'd be begging to die soon, anyway," he smirked, "she doesn't know that he has HIV. I wonder how long they've been fucking each other for?" he winked at Len.

Len rolled his eyes. "That's it?" he snorted. "Consider it done. So tell me about the Red Scorpions and what they're doing," this was interesting. The Red Scorpions were a street gang which had been giving their boss plenty of trouble lately. Even in the underworld there were laws, and these laws were set down by the group with the most power and influence in the area. This meant Piko and his _famiglia_ , and every other street gang – at least those that seriously engaged in criminal activities, rather than just wannabe youths who only cared about smoking pot and fighting with each other – had to obey the _famiglia_ 's laws. The Red Scorpions had been breaking those rules lately, demanding protection money from brothels and drug dealers residing outside of their assigned territory, and apparently one or two of them had turned informant for the police as well. It wouldn't be long before Piko sent _soldato_ down to teach them a lesson. It was unlikely he would kill them, but the experience was definitely going to hurt.

The man lowered his voice, glancing around carefully before speaking to Len. His breath smelled like cigarette smoke, the acrid stench lingering on his clothes. Len hoped he would get lung cancer. "I heard that two of their men are associates with _famiglia_ Venice. One of them was killed off, why I don't know. The other one…apparently the leader of the Red Scorpions is looking for him too, and from what I understand he made off with some of their drugs and laundered cash. Which is why they now have insufficient funds to pay Utatane Piko and his men, see?" he breathed. "Of course their leader doesn't want anyone to know about their current situation. I hear they may end up fighting with the Venetians, but I'm not so sure about that. Against _famiglia_ Venice, they have slim odds of winning."

Len raised an eyebrow. "So that's why they've been extorting money from the brothels lately?" he asked. The informant nodded, leaning back and taking another puff from his cigarette. "Piko will be happy to hear this. Good to crush them while they're weak like this," he muttered. "They've been causing problems even before the extortion. That stupid stunt with the billionaire two months ago almost got us involved, and Piko was angry enough about that. But they're preparing to mobilise against the Venetians, you say?" he asked, suddenly remembering what else the man had told him.

"Yes. Those bloody idiots," the man coughed, signalling to the bartender for another drink. "I don't know what makes them think they can win against an organisation like the Venetian _famiglia_ , but if they want to commit suicide then by all means. It's none of my business," he shrugged. "I left the Red Scorpions years ago. Much easier to make money as an informant, you see," he sneered.

"Leaving a street gang is easy," Len shook his head, amused. "Try leaving one of the _famiglie_. Now _that_ is true suicide," he exhaled. "Against the Venetians…" the Paris trip centred around the feud the Palermo _famiglia_ had with the Venetians. But if the Scorpions were going to attack the Venetians now, their forces would no doubt be weakened. They wouldn't lose to a street gang, but it might be enough for Piko's men to crush them. And if that happened, if they retreated, would that be enough for the _don_ to call off the Paris mission? He wanted to try and keep Miku out of this if possible. He would talk to Piko about it, see if there was any way to take advantage of the Red Scorpions' attack. Provided the street gang actually had the guts to go against the Venetians to begin with. And they would have to leave the country and find the Venetian _famiglia_ 's hideout, too. It wasn't going to be that easy. Then again, no one ever said that getting revenge was easy.

"Well, I wouldn't know. I never joined any _famiglie_ because of that loyalty and commitment shit," the man took a gulp of his drink, which the bartender had just set down before him. Len assumed it was vodka, since that was all he ever seemed to take. He personally wasn't too fond of hard liquor himself, but he could hold his drink if he had to. "Once you're in, you're never out. Sorry, but I have a difficult time obeying rules as fucked up as those," he put his drink down. "Now as for _you_ , assassin. Why are you bound to Utatane Piko? Funny how I've known you for years but still have yet to receive an answer."

Len shrugged, sliding off his barstool. "And you're not going to get one today," he finished the rest of his beer, setting down the empty can next to the first one. "Well, thanks for the information. You're more useful than I thought you'd be. Piko was right when he told me you're one of the better informants he has," he placed his hands in his pockets as he began to leave. He had other things to see to after this, and Piko wanted to meet him later, when he was done interrogating this man. The main reason why Len was sent rather than one of the _capos_ was because this informant wanted Len's services rather than money in exchange for the knowledge he provided. It was one of the few things that made Len feel so severely underpaid by his boss. Here he was, essentially killing people for free since the knowledge the informant provided benefited Utatane Piko rather than Len himself.

"I know you came to see me because of your boss," the informant called out, making Len pause. "Of course I have to provide information that would benefit his _famiglia_. You wouldn't be here if you didn't need to find out something on his behalf – after all, you are but his pet assassin, are you not?" his tone was almost mocking, but Len let that slide. He had heard worse before anyway, throughout his career as an assassin. People hated him, and they had good reason to. But oh well, what could he say? This was his job.

"I am nobody's pet," he finally answered, continuing on his way. The man watched the assassin as he left, noticing with anticipation as some desperate fool quietly followed him out, clearly ready to nick his wallet – the idiot must not know who Kagamine Len was. Before he even got his hand inside the assassin's back pocket, the hired killer turned and grabbed him by the neck, tossing the man aside. The pickpocket crashed into a billiards table, scattering the crowd. The angry players began to beat up the unfortunate pickpocket, and the informant was momentarily distracted by the commotion – by the time he looked back at where the assassin had been standing, Kagamine Len was already gone.


	13. Chapter 13

"No, we can't call it off," Piko sighed, leaning back in his chair. The two men were facing each other at a table, Yuma standing attentively behind his _capo bastone_. Len groaned, wanting to lunge across the table and shake his boss, but he would probably be restrained by Yuma if he tried to do that.

" _Why_?" he pressed. "If the main point was to exterminate the Venetian _famiglia_ , this is the perfect chance! They're vulnerable right after being attacked by another gang. If this information turns out to be true, then it would be stupid not to take advantage of that. Doesn't your father hate them?" he took a drink from his cup of coffee, frowning. Piko was not stupid. Len was certain that he was perfectly aware of the strengths of Len's argument. There had to be some other reason why the man was so hesitant about cancelling the Paris mission. Piko tapped his fingers lightly against the table.

"It's not exactly about striking out at the entire Venetian _famiglia_. Though of course, when one man makes a mistake the entire family suffers," Piko answered slowly. "My father…from what I know, he has a grudge in particular against the _don_ , not against the _famiglia_ itself. Crippling the men would hurt the _don_ , but my father wants something much more precise. He wants…well, you know what he wants, you should have seen the folder by now," Piko exhaled. "It doesn't make a difference to him, or to us, whether or not _famiglia_ Venice will be vulnerable after the attack you speak of. We can of course make a move then, but the Paris trip is a given," Piko smiled thinly. "It cannot be changed."

"So you are willing to allow Miku to risk her life in France?" Len retorted, his aggressiveness taking himself by surprise. Piko flinched, his mismatched eyes widening in shock, and Yuma took a warning step forward, staring carefully at him the whole time. Len made sure his next words were spoken in as calm a voice as possible. "You know how dangerous it will be for her. _La famille_ Paris is extremely protective of their territory. In France it would not be just the Venetians we end up dealing with."

"So it's your job to keep her safe," Yuma answered on Piko's behalf when his _capo bastone_ stayed quiet, obviously troubled. "She is the girl you are fond of, as we all know. Her safety is in your hands now. And we trust that you won't stupidly do anything to make her stand out, or put yourselves in danger?" he voiced it like a question, waiting for Len's affirmation. Len gritted his teeth, annoyed that he did not seem more concerned about Miku's welfare, but nodded nevertheless. He glanced at Piko, wondering if he really was just going to let this slide, but the silver haired man said nothing.

"I will try my best. That's all I can promise," he directed his words towards Piko, who blinked slowly back at him, looking almost dazed. He seemed lost in thought. "Although I definitely don't want her to be harmed in any way, I won't exaggerate my abilities nor will I make promises I cannot keep. It's stupid in my line of work to promise when you cannot deliver," his thin smile mirrored Piko's. "Rin is coming along, so Miku won't be completely alone. If Gumo is going as well, that would be excellent."

"I gave him permission to go," Piko answered quietly. "He is the only one who can tolerate Rin when she's nervous, and anyway I don't want her to be alone in Paris either. She is extremely important – not just to you, but to all of us," his words sounded almost like a warning. Len sighed. He didn't need Piko to remind him of that. Sure, Rin was his twin sister but he had never been an overly protective brother to her anyway. It was usually more of the other way round. "How are your preparations? The documents you need, papers, whichever. If you're still lacking anything, let Miku know and she will prepare the relevant materials for you. She _is_ my personal assistant now, after all," he frowned.

Len raised an eyebrow. "You sound unhappy about that," he noted, wondering what the man was thinking about now. The mention of Miku's name made him want to sigh again. She had no idea at all what she was getting herself into, and the most painful part was the fact that all of them knew this, yet none of them could say anything to her. Piko glanced back at Yuma, who returned his look impassively. It was practically impossible to guess what was on the _capo_ 's mind. Yuma was like a blank slate, and sometimes Len wondered what was his background before he joined the _famiglia_.

"I'm not unhappy about her being my secretary. Just a little concerned," Piko answered. "She is new, though she learns the ropes quickly. I think I quite like having her around," he resumed drumming his fingers against the table. "So if anything happens…anything at all…" he fell silent, and both men knew what the silence meant. Len cleared his throat, his attempt to push the dark thoughts away.

"I didn't think you were that concerned," his tone was flat. "Since after all, you never prioritise a single individual over anyone else in the _famiglia_. Your greatest concern is the welfare of the entire family. If I were to get caught in Paris, no one will be coming to help me," he reiterated what Piko had told him when he first briefed him about the Paris mission. The silver haired man closed his eyes and inclined his head in acknowledgement. Len knew that this was so that his _famligia_ would not be implicated during the mission – a cruel truth, but a truth nevertheless. Len was paid to take risks.

Just that Miku wasn't. That wasn't something he could get over – the fact that this girl was young, naïve and vulnerable, and she had no experience or knowledge at all on how to protect herself from the criminal world. "If Miku joined the _famiglia_ , I would save her if anything happened in Paris. And the same goes for you," Piko's mismatched eyes opened and met his steadily, his face unreadable. "You have always known that my _famiglia_ is open to you. You simply have to change your mind."

"I'm not changing my mind on that one," Len shook his head resolutely. "I've spent enough time bound to a single organisation. I've been with Sicario for more than half my life. I like living on my own terms…being motivated by money for the sake of survival, and nothing else. If I joined the Palermo _famiglia_ , I lose all freedom to act by myself. My life becomes yours. I won't accept that."

"It is your own choice, and I shall not pressure you to change your mind," Piko nodded. "Just know that if you really, truly need assistance in Paris…well, this is one alternative for you," he studied Len curiously, almost as though trying to pry into his thoughts. "I have other things to settle with Yuma and Ian, so I shall take my leave for now. Len, just ensure that everything is ready when it is time for you to leave. You have approximately three weeks left, so don't leave it all to the last minute again."

"That was an _accident_ ," Len called out as the _capo bastone_ rose from his chair, Yuma tucking it back under the table for him. "If you hadn't sent me on that last-minute job on the night of my flight, I wouldn't have…" his voice trailed off as Piko simply nodded absentmindedly and walked away from the table, waving once to bid him farewell. Len rubbed tiredly at his eyes and stared down at the remnants of his coffee, the milky brown liquid looking less and less appealing by the minute. It was his usual cappuccino, full of milk and sugar, but for some reason the caffeine wasn't working today.

Maybe drinking beer and then following up with coffee right after had been a bad idea. He glanced out of the restaurant window, watching the sky outside. It was grey, and he heard the low rumble of thunder – it would rain soon, he supposed. The wind looked like it was getting stronger. He took another sip from the coffee, grimacing as he did. It was lukewarm now, but he ought to just finish it since he ordered it. Len didn't like to waste his food and drink. He knew how precious food was.

Since Piko apparently had some personal arrangements with the owner of this particular restaurant chain, the bill was already paid for, so Len could just walk out whenever he wanted. But he decided to stay a little while longer at this restaurant. He wanted to watch the sky and see the rain when it began to fall. It had been a while since he had free time to just hang around and observe things that weren't relevant to his work. It made him feel strangely peaceful, and though it almost lulled him into a false sense of security he reminded himself that he couldn't afford to be careless. The grey, overcast sky made him just a little bit sleepy though. Maybe he should return to the inn to take a quick nap before he continued with his work tonight. Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

He raised his hand, and a waiter promptly approached him, notepad at the ready. "I'd like the honey glazed salmon please," he pointed at the dish on the menu, and the waiter nodded, scribbling the order down on the notepad. "That's all," he smiled when asked if there was anything else he would like to order, and the waiter nodded before collecting the menus and heading off to submit the order to the kitchen. Len exhaled, turning his head towards the glass windows again. The sky was darkening further now. It had been a while since it last rained, so that was pretty nice.

Len quite liked the rain. Though it made his job harder when he actually had to do something during bad weather, it was great staying indoors and listening to the patter of rain as it fell. But that was a luxury he could rarely afford. Now, being free enough to eat a nice meal and watch the rain felt like the calm before a storm. He had no doubt whatsoever that in Paris, nothing would be the same.

* * *

"Oh my _god_ , what is wrong with you?" Miku exploded, unable to stop herself. Ian jumped and gave her a guilty look, caught right outside the weaponry room. She wasn't sure if he was the babysitter or she was. "You know Piko banned you from using guns for the whole week! Control yourself!"

"Just let me open the door," Ian whined, so unlike his usual self that Miku didn't know how to react. "I just want to take a look! I won't touch anything!" he gave the door a longing stare, but Miku just shook her head, reaching out to grab the _capo_ 's arm and dragging him back down the corridor. He really was behaving like a child. She was warned he was sulking, but she didn't know that he would have regressed into…such a state. No wonder Yuma was comfortable with letting him supervise her.

She thought Ian would be the kind to get into a foul mood when he was upset, but clearly he did just the opposite. "Stay put and stop sneaking off all the time!" she scolded, wondering if the _capo_ would remember how she treated him now when he went back to his normal self. Maybe she should be careful how she behaved around him just in case he decided to get back at her for lecturing him. "Ian, _you're_ the _capo_ here. You're supposed to be more mature! What if your _soldato_ see you like this?"

Ian squirmed, trying to break free of her hold, but she didn't let go no matter what. It helped that the man didn't seem to be at his most rational right now – he just complained and struggled a little, but he didn't use all of his strength. She had little doubt that the _caporegime_ was much stronger than she was, and could easily break away from her if he was in the right state of mind. "You're really mean, you little brat," he whined, and Miku rolled her eyes. That was rich, coming from Ian.

"I'm just following what everyone else told me. You're not supposed to be touching or using any weapons now, and you're supposed to be supervising me while I practice. Not the other way round!" she stressed when she shoved Ian into the shooting range, closing the door behind them. Ian let out a sigh and turned to face her, his dark blue eyes filled with annoyance. For a moment he looked so much like how he usually did that she froze, her heart in her throat. Was he back to normal now?

"If I ever get my hands on a gun again, I'll blow your brains out," he growled, but his words lacked his usual malice and she relaxed, assured that he still wasn't exactly thinking straight. Guns and knives were like narcotics to Ian, which unnerved her a little bit. How did someone so rough and violent become one of the captains in Piko's organisation? Surely it would have made more sense to choose someone more like…well, Yuma seemed to be a decent _caporegime_. Sometimes she had to wonder what was going on in Piko's head. He didn't think the same way most other people did, she knew.

"You wouldn't, and you know that," she shook her head, moving forward and pushing him towards a chair. He protested but finally sat when she pressed on his shoulders, glaring up at her with those dark eyes. She took a moment to observe his face. He really was a beautiful man, beautiful in a way that was almost untouchable. Miku suddenly wondered if Ian ever had a girlfriend before. "Ian, can I ask you something?" she waited for him to duck his head and give her a short nod, looking almost angry, before she continued. "Have you ever…well, you know, had a girlfriend before?"

Len did tell her something once about no one wanting to risk Ian's temper. Ian made a face at that question, gaze snapping up to meet hers. He looked annoyed. "Do I seem like I have time for women?" he asked, sounding eerily like his usual self. Or maybe he _was_ back to normal. Honestly, Miku couldn't tell. She backed away a little bit just to be safe. "Women are so…easy to break. They cry over the smallest things. I don't have time to deal with a weepy mess," he shook his head.

"Not all girls are like that, you know," she folded her arms across her chest, feeling rather offended by his blasé generalisation of her gender. "I mean, look at Rin! I don't think there's anything that could ever get on her nerves…" Ian shot her a droll look and she backpedalled. Although Rin really was unlikely to be easily offended by anything, she didn't seem capable of experiencing a very wide range of other emotions either. And anyway, Rin already had Gumo. "Well, if Rin is too unemotional, there are girls like…like me, I think! I'm pretty sure I'm in good control of my feelings," she argued.

Okay, so at times Ian frightened her a little, but she had accepted Len's world and his job pretty easily, so she thought that she was doing quite well, actually. Ian raised an eyebrow, suddenly getting up from his chair and approaching her. Instinctively she stepped back, but he just kept walking towards her until she felt the wall behind her, and Ian was suddenly _very_ inside her personal space, dark amusement dancing in his blue eyes. "Like you, eh?" he mused. "But you're like a scared little mouse. I wouldn't be surprised if I shouted 'boo' at you and you freaked out," he laughed. She bit her lip, frowning.

"I'm not _that_ bad…" wouldn't anyone be startled if someone suddenly shouted at them? It wasn't just her! "And anyway, I'm _not_ scared. I'm just trying to absorb and accept everything! This world is totally new to me," she defended herself. Ian leant in towards her so that their faces were on the same level, and she gulped. His breath was cool, as though he had been eating mints right before this, and it _did_ smell pretty fresh as well…maybe he really had been eating mints. She could smell his breath against her face, and it actually smelled kind of nice…okay, she had to stop thinking about that.

"I find you kind of funny. You know, we don't often get girls around here. The _famiglia_ doesn't have many girls. Miki was one of the only ones we had, but since she was pretty much born into our world she wasn't afraid of lots of things, including dying," Ian shrugged. "So hey, maybe I can understand that you're confused about all kinds of stuff. I don't see you looking scared of Len, though. Which if you ask me, is pretty damn stupid. Because he's the most dangerous one among all of us here, including myself," thankfully he withdrew from her then, a small smirk on his face. She inhaled.

" _Len_ is nice. Unlike you," she blurted out, her hands shooting up to cover her face when her brain caught up with her mouth. A few seconds later she felt a strong hand prise hers away from her face and she met Ian's scornful look, his long fingers intertwined with hers. "What are you _doing_ –" she exclaimed, but then Ian's face got really close to hers again and she swallowed, her heart thudding.

"Nice. Is that really the only thing that matters?" he asked, his tone flat. She froze. He sounded…it was the first time she heard him talk this way. He had always been brusque with her, but for once there was no undercurrent of annoyance in his tone – he sounded calm and controlled, his words hard, and for some reason that made him even scarier than he usually was. "You can't just be _nice_ and try to talk your way out of everything that happens to you, new girl. That's stupid. That's naïve! And believing that Kagamine Len is nice is the stupidest thing of all. Can't you see it's just an _act_?"

"It's not!" she raised her voice at him, suddenly annoyed enough by his words to forget, for just a moment, who she was talking to. "He's definitely way nicer than you are. And maybe you have something against him, but I don't care! I really believe that he's genuine about his feelings!"

Ian abruptly let go of her hands and she found herself breathing hard, her face slightly flushed. The _caporegime_ was staring at her, almost in disbelief. "I honestly don't know whether I'm shocked or downright impressed by your naiveté. You're talking about a paid killer here. Kagamine Len's very livelihood depends on him _killing_ people. You've only ever seen him around yourself – of course he acts nice since you're someone he's interested in. But have you actually seen him at work? What do you even know about him?" Ian's words suddenly struck her. What did she really know about Len?

"He started training when he was eight, and he's been working as a proper assassin for eight years so far. Though he took two years off," she shakily revealed what she knew, which admittedly wasn't much. Honestly, now that this was brought up, she realised that she really didn't know much about him. And Rin said that he had an unhappy childhood too…well, both twins didn't have the best time growing up, and Len was forcefully taken away to begin his assassin training. But she didn't know much else besides that. Oh, and something about their mother being part of an organisation which wanted to create the perfect weapon…

"Common knowledge!" Ian shook his head, sighing. "The entire organisation knows all this too. If you really think Len is nice, if you think he's in any way _different_ from the rest of us who work for our boss, then you need more to back up what you said. Go on, what else do you know about Kagamine Len? Did you know, for example," Ian's eyes glittered maliciously, "that he once killed a man over a drink in a bar? Or that he treats murder as a sport? Kagamine Len kills without mercy. If you want the truth, I'd say he's a lot more frightening than I am. At least I don't kill people without a good reason."

"I find that hard to believe," she retorted, meeting Ian's gaze. He seemed amused by her answer, a smile curving his lips. It was unfair that someone as violent as Ian could be so angelic looking. If only his personality was reflected in his outward appearance as well! She was quite sure that Ian wouldn't look quite so pretty then. "I mean sure, I know he's a paid killer, but he's not all _evil_ or anything. He definitely has a conscience of some sort. After all, he said he doesn't kill kids!"

"Yeah, that's pretty much his only set of morals," Ian rolled his eyes. "It's like someone deciding to steal from an entire street of houses and for some reason, bypassing specifically yours. He still stole from everyone else, didn't he?" Ian gave her a steady look, and she swallowed. She found that hard to refute. "He may not kill children, but that doesn't mean he won't kill other vulnerable parties, like the elderly or pregnant women. Len would finish any job he's paid to start," Ian shook his head.

Miku suddenly felt ill. "Pregnant…women?" she echoed, those two words haunting her. In that case it wouldn't simply be one life being extinguished – it would be two. Would Len really be that callous? He said that he didn't kill children, but didn't the unborn baby in a woman's womb count as a child as well? Ian frowned, aware that he had caught her attention now. "You're exaggerating, right?"

"I don't exaggerate," he stepped away from her, thankfully giving her some room to breathe. He went back towards the chair, his arms folded across his chest, and she stared after him, watching the light blond braid swinging across his back. "I don't know if he's killed such people in recent years, but he has done so before. I know. I was there," Ian turned slightly, regarding her out of the corner of his eyes, and let out an irritated sigh. "Stop looking so shocked. Surely you must know of worse things."

No, she couldn't believe it. That Len would kill an innocent child? She wouldn't believe it unless he told her personally that he had done something so terrible. "I can't believe you. Only if Len admits so himself…I mean, why should I trust you?" she asked, withdrawing against the wall. Ian smiled.

It wasn't a very nice smile. He looked almost wolfish. "You can believe whoever you want to believe. Just know that I'm not lying in any way," he shrugged. "Of course there's no reason for you to trust me, but neither is there any incentive to believe Len. Or any of us, for that matter. The truth is just something you'll have to figure out for yourself," he yawned, stretching languidly. "Anyway aren't you supposed to be training? I guess watching you make a fool of yourself would be a pretty good distraction from my current lack of a weapon," Ian muttered, the look on his face sour.

Miku resisted the urge to glare at him, following him back to the table. She was sure that the _capo_ could still do something nasty to her even without his gun in hand. "Nice to know that I'm your source of entertainment," the words slipped out, filled with sarcasm, and Ian's dark blue gaze snapped over to her. His sour expression remained unchanged so she didn't know if he was offended or not, but he had been staring too long for her to feel comfortable, and she began to regret talking back at him. "Uh…" she fidgeted with the gun she had picked up, halfway through reloading the firearm. Now he was staring at the gun.

"Gimme that," suddenly Ian lunged towards her and she shrieked, darting away before he could get his hands on her. For the next couple of minutes Miku just tried her very best to evade the trigger-happy _caporegime_ , who seemed to have entirely forgotten everything he just said about Len.

* * *

"Miku!" she jumped in surprise as Luka suddenly pounced upon her, jumping out from her hiding spot behind their room door. "I swear I never see you around nowadays! What the heck are you up to?" her best friend demanded, her hands on her hips. Miku fidgeted, letting out a nervous laugh.

She had yet to tell Luka that she was working for Piko. The one time Miku actually came back with secretarial work to do, Luka was so tired from her late-night date that she didn't seem to notice Miku's stack of papers. She was out to work early the next day, and she appeared to be taking all the morning shifts for the entire week too – usually, by the time Miku was back home from training, her roommate was already asleep and would be up and out of the apartment early the next morning. So she and Luka didn't really have a chance to interact with each other the past couple of days.

"Uh, I changed jobs recently…" she explained, feeling slightly guilty. She knew that Luka had warned her to stay away from Utatane Piko, concerned that the reappearance of her ex-boyfriend would do her no good. But the pay! She would have been stupid to turn down that kind of salary. Luka folded her arms across her chest, narrowing her light blue eyes at Miku. Miku swallowed. Luka reminded her of her mother at times – well, her mother before her father died and she became an alcoholic…

"I figured that out," she shook her head, tone stern. "I dropped by Mancy's during my lunch break today and they told me you weren't working there anymore! I can't believe you didn't tell me that you quit!" Luka actually looked a little hurt at this, and Miku felt a million times worse. "I mean, isn't this the kind of thing you're _supposed_ to share with your roommate and best friend?" she gestured at herself. Miku chewed on her lip, wondering how to explain her situation without revealing too much at the same time.

"Well…okay, so I'm doing a secretarial job now," she began carefully, hoping that she wouldn't accidentally blurt out Piko's name or anything equally stupid. "It pays a lot better than Mancy's so I thought, why not? And the guy who hired me is a friend of some people in Mancy's, so I could quit pretty fast. That's all," she smiled, hoping that Luka wouldn't ask any more questions. But of course, her discerning roommate guessed there was more to it and continued glaring at her. Miku could see Luka's fingers tapping against her arm and she knew her best friend was annoyed. "What more do you want to know?" she scratched her head, trying to speak carefully.

"Who are you working for now?" Luka pressed. "Who is this person with such influential ties to Mancy's? And if you're working a secretarial job, then why do you always come back looking like you just woke up?" she continued aggressively, pointing at Miku's outfit. Miku hastily looked down at herself – fine, she didn't look _extremely_ presentable but she was pretty sure it was better than pyjamas. Weren't sweatpants very trendy nowadays? She was being fashion-conscious!

"My workplace is pretty chill with attire!" she tried to wave it off, resisting the urge to fidget. "As long as we get our work done on time, the boss doesn't really care what we wear…" which was a lie because she was fairly certain that Piko did care. Not that Luka had to know that. "And um, I'm bound by contract not to say too much about my work!" she fibbed, proud of her quick thinking.

Luka seemed unconvinced. "But you can at least say _who_ you're working for, right?" she tilted her head, arms still tightly folded across her chest. Miku thought that Luka might become stuck in this position forever if she didn't loosen up soon. "I mean, I don't think there's any company in the world that has to be so secretive…unless you're working for criminals of some sort?" she narrowed her eyes, clearly assuming the worst.

"No! Of course not! Don't be ridiculous," she protested, waving her hands wildly. While Luka was admittedly not too far off the mark, Piko's _company_ itself wasn't the criminal organisation. Hence Miku was not working for criminals. Technically she wasn't, anyway. Paris wasn't exactly part of her job scope, right? "I don't know…I don't dare to say anything at all for now. I'm still a little uncertain about what I _can_ say and what I can't, so…maybe when I get more accustomed to my job?" she suggested nervously. Luka still didn't seem too pleased about the secrecy, but thankfully she relented, allowing Miku to come inside the room and collapse upon her bed. Today had been tiring.

"You never used to keep secrets from me," Luka squinted at her, clearly still suspicious. Her best friend was standing in front of the dresser, shaking her long pink hair out and running her fingers through the thick locks. It didn't look like she had been back for very long – she was still in her barista shirt, though she had changed out of her pants. "Even back in university, when we participated in studies where everything was supposed to be confidential…you still told me all your answers!" she flipped her hair over her shoulder, picking a brush off the table. Miku sighed.

"Work is different, I guess," she explained. "I mean, in school what was the worst they could have done to us? But this is a really good job and I don't want to lose it…plus, I don't even want to know what would happen if I broke the terms of my contract," she stared up at the ceiling, aware of Luka's gaze upon her. She seemed thoughtful. "You definitely know the company, it's _giant_. Everyone knows of them! But I can't say anything right now," she rolled over, burying her face in her pillow.

"All this secrecy…it makes it sound like you're a part of the Mafia or something," Luka snorted. Miku stiffened at that remark, wondering if it really seemed that way to other people. Was Piko's criminal organisation…was it actually the _Mafia_? She never really thought about that, actually. The men always referred to themselves as a _famiglia_ , and the word Mafia was never thrown out, but they did seem to behave a lot like what she imagined a Mafia to be like – though admittedly, all her knowledge was gained from watching ' _The Godfather_ '. "I hope you're not doing anything silly…"

"You don't need to worry, of course I'm not!" Miku assured her friend. Luka was sometimes just too suspicious for her own good. She put the brush down – Miku could hear the faint clatter – and walked to her, touching her shoulder. Miku was still lying face down on her bed, refusing to look up at Luka. She was sure that if her best friend saw her face, she would know at once that Miku was hiding something, and that would just make her life even more difficult than it already was.

"I never told you about my twin brother, did I?" Luka asked. Miku peeked up at this, interested now that Luka didn't seem to be pressing her for more information about her situation. She shook her head, and her friend exhaled. "Let's just say he got mixed up in some _really_ bad company. I don't even know what he's doing anymore. He ran away from home when we were seventeen, and our parents like to pretend he doesn't exist. Honestly, I don't really know what he's up to now."

"Luki?" Miku asked. Luka had mentioned her twin's name in passing before, just once – Miku could not remember why she suddenly brought him up back then, but she remembered that it was sometime during Christmas when Luka said the name. Luka's blue eyes softened slightly and she nodded, looking away from Miku for a while. Miku studied her face – her expression was distant, like she was remembering something. "What kind of bad company did he keep?" she continued, feeling curious about the boy.

"Bad company," Luka answered vaguely. "Really bad. Back in our hometown they were the kind of people you wouldn't want to run into at night. They only come into public view for a few reasons," she fell silent at that, and for a moment neither one of them said anything. Then Luka cleared her throat. "I don't know what happened to Luki after he went off with them. I never saw him again after he left, but I hear rumours sometimes about what he's doing now. And I can't believe that he's the twin brother I grew up with," she shook her head. "So yeah, just don't mess around with bad people. It changes you a lot. Though that's common sense, I guess," she shrugged.

Miku wanted to ask what sort of rumours Luka had heard about Luki, but she seemed distinctly uncomfortable with this topic so she decided to hold her tongue for now. "You worry too much for someone so young," she teased, nudging Luka lightly. Luka batted her elbow away and went back to the dresser, picking up her brush once more. She looked a little more relaxed now. "Of course I'm not involved in _that_ sort of thing! Do I really seem like someone who would be?" she asked playfully.

"Not you," Luka sounded amused, "you probably couldn't even kill a bug without cringing. But that guy you met, Kagamine Len…" her tone suddenly changed, becoming more thoughtful. "Well, since I haven't met him or even seen him yet, and you don't really know much about him either…I know you're happy with him! But remember what I said – that when something or someone appears too good to be true, then usually it's not real," she warned. "He's handsome, yada yada, but don't let that blind you, all right? My brother was attractive too…and look where he ended up," she exhaled.

"You're worrying too much, Luka. Len is a nice guy," Miku said firmly, reassuring both her best friend and herself – Ian's words from this afternoon rang through her mind, but she pushed the thoughts away, knowing that this was hardly the right time to be lingering on them. "I think we're really like, super compatible with each other. Maybe one day I'll bring him here and introduce him to you! I bet he'd love to meet you," she gushed, clapping her hands in excitement. Luka laughed, shaking her head.

"Maybe he'll think I'm annoying for worrying about you so much. You can bet I'll interrogate him as thoroughly as possible," Luka threatened, and Miku smiled, glad that they were back to their usual bantering selves. What Luka said about her twin brother was both interesting and…well, cause for concern. If Luki was tied up in the criminal world, as what Luka seemed to imply, then would she eventually run into him one of these days? Surely not – she wasn't working for the criminal side of Piko's organisation, after all. But nevertheless she hoped she would never bump into Megurine Luki. The last thing she wanted was for Luka to somehow find out.

"How was your date from that night?" Miku asked idly, wondering if she should change out of her tank and sweatpants or just go to sleep in them. It was admittedly rather comfy, and she wouldn't mind since she didn't perspire a lot today. Luka gasped, excitedly setting her brush down again and whipping around to face her. Her eyes were alight with sudden fervour, much to Miku's amusement.

"It was _so_ good. Let me tell you everything!" Luka began to gush, talking about her new love interest and their date – it was nice to catch up with her since the two of them hadn't had a chance to talk properly in a while. After some time, the conversation went to clothes, to food, to Luka's day at work, and then finally to what they would spend their remaining money on after paying off their bills for this month. It was great to be able to just sit there and relax with her best friend. Hopefully they'd be able to find time for each other again. It was very odd to not talk to Luka every day, since they were roommates.

Luka reassured her that she would stop taking all morning shifts from next week onwards – she had only done so this week because one of her colleagues was on leave. That meant she and Luka might have more time to talk to each other since Miku usually didn't leave for work _that_ early. At least not nowadays, since she was only going for training and Yuma wasn't very particular about what time she arrived – while Ian didn't even seem to care whether or not she actually showed up. This meant that if she was _still_ focusing on training next week, she could probably chat with Luka in the morning.

It was a pleasant thought. Though everything else in her life had changed, the one thing that did not was her best friend's comforting presence. Miku hated to hide the truth from her, but she knew she had to – she didn't want Luka to be sucked into the dark world of murder and lies that she was now a part of. Though, when she thought back to Luka's expression every time she spoke of her twin, Miku couldn't help but wonder if Luka had already been forcefully pulled into this secretive world.


	14. Chapter 14

Miku awoke to the sound of her phone buzzing. She groped around in the dark, trying to find her phone, and squinted at the screen when she finally got hold of it. It was three in the morning.

She groaned softly. An unknown number was calling her. While she was very tempted to just hang up and go back to sleep, at the same time it might be Piko or someone else from the organisation so she didn't dare to just ignore the call. Glancing at her sleeping roommate, Miku groaned again and forced herself to get up from her bed, dragging herself out of the room so that she wouldn't wake Luka up.

Closing the door quietly behind her, she accepted the call and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she asked grumpily, stifling a yawn as she spoke. There was nothing but silence on the other end of the line, and as she continued to wait, she began wondering if this was just someone's idea of a good joke. Or maybe they had called her by accident. Well, it certainly wasn't funny! She had work to do in the morning!

She was about to hang up when suddenly, someone coughed on the other end. "Well, rise and shine!" Ian's voice snaked into her ear. She flinched, almost dropping the phone in her shock. "I need someone to accompany me tonight. Yuma is busy with some negotiations, and Kurotane is away on some mysterious errand, so I guess that means I'm stuck with the secretary. Kiyo is back, and Piko sent us to go and receive him since he's in possession of some _highly_ sensitive cargo," Ian whispered conspiratorially.

Miku frowned. "Who's Kiyo?" she asked, groggy from being woken up at a really weird timing. And how did Ian even have her number, anyway? The _capo_ sighed, not even bothering to hide his irritation. Well, he wasn't the only one annoyed right now. She was _dead_ tired from yesterday, and it was all Ian's fault! Watching the _capo_ when he didn't have access to his gun was like looking after a hyperactive child.

"Hiyama Kiyoteru, the final _caporegime_ ," Ian snapped, sounding impatient. "God, you're _slow_. Please at least _try_ to keep up. Anyway, meet me at the compound, I'll pass you my gun since I'm not allowed to use mine," he sounded disgruntled. "We might run into some…resistance, so I hope you're a decent enough shot in the dark. Be there in ten minutes!" he didn't even say goodbye when he hung up.

It took a while for everything to sink in. But then her eyes suddenly flew open and she began to panic. "What, what? I have to be there in _ten minutes_?" she repeated aloud, slipping back into her room and trying to find something to wear. She knocked into her table in the darkness and bit her tongue to avoid cursing, glancing at Luka with tears in her eyes. Her roommate was still fast asleep.

Ian wanted her to hold a gun. Ian wanted her to be prepared to shoot people. She gulped, tugging her shirt on over her head and wriggling into a pair of jeans as quickly as she could. He had to be joking, right? She couldn't really tell with Ian. Surely Piko would lift the weapon ban for this – if Miku was responsible for keeping both of them safe, they would probably just end up dead. This was ridiculous. She glanced at her phone screen and grimaced. Five minutes had passed already, and she definitely didn't want to be late to meet Ian. The _capo_ could get very impatient.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, she ran out of the apartment, grabbing her keys as she dashed out of the front door. She should be able to make it in five minutes if she ran all the way. Muttering a few curses, she jabbed at the elevator buttons, waiting for it to come up to her level. She was pretty sure that most personal assistants didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night just to settle things for their company – things that were most likely illegal at that. But then again she was paid a lot for this job. She sighed as the elevator dinged, opening its doors for her.

She idly wondered if Len would be there. She would feel a lot safer if he was. Ian didn't mention anything about him, but she couldn't help but hope. Len worked for Piko too after all, so there was a chance he would be told to show up as well, right? It would be much better than being stuck with Ian, especially if she was the one in charge of watching out for them. Why did Piko have to send her out too?

* * *

"You're late!" Ian hissed, tapping his foot impatiently. Miku wheezed, clutching her side. She had run all the way here from her apartment, and it had been a while since she last had to carry out such strenuous exercise. She stood there, panting while Ian waited impassively for her to recover.

"Sorry," she gasped, "but not everyone can teleport, you know," she stretched, fanning herself. Ian just grumbled inaudibly and held a gun out towards her. She gingerly took hold of it, hoping that she wouldn't have to actually use it. "Where are we going?" she asked, looking around. The rundown bank was right next to Ian, looking ghostly under the moonlight. She shivered. The graffiti, the weeds and the "For Rent" sign, all things she had gotten used to in the daylight, seemed very ominous in the darkness.

"You'll see when we get there," Ian answered brusquely, turning around and striding off into the night. She scurried along after him, wondering how long this errand would take. Since Piko was the one who ordered her to accompany Ian, would he allow her to go for work late? Miku doubted he would be so understanding, but it was nice to dream nevertheless. Ian suddenly stopped and she peeked over his shoulder – there was a car waiting in front of them, parked right next to the pavement. She gulped.

"All right, so I'll be driving," he spoke without turning to look at her, stepping towards the car. The sleek vehicle gleamed underneath the street lights, and it looked very fast. For some reason hearing Ian say this made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Ian didn't seem like he would be a very safe driver. "You don't have to do anything on the way there…well actually, it'll be good if you can make sure that there's no one following us, but I can do that too. You'll do more on the way back."

"Uh…" Ian didn't wait for her to finish what she wanted to say, instead unlocking the car door and slipping into the driver's seat. She swallowed and opened the car door as well, buckling herself in next to the _caporegime_ , who seemed extremely focused on what he was doing. "So will I have to shoot people?" she asked hesitantly as he turned the key in the ignition, the car starting up with a low, quiet purr. The _capo_ smiled, but it wasn't a very pleasant smile. He reached out to adjust the rear-view mirror, stepping down on the accelerator. The car shot off into the darkness, and Miku's head slammed back into the headrest. She winced, watching the dark streets outside blurring together.

"I can't promise that you won't have to," Ian spoke after a while, turning down another road. Miku recognised the route they were taking – they seemed to be heading out of the city, towards the remote suburbs. She shuddered. "Technically it should be safe since this territory is under our control, but there's always the possibility that there's someone desperate enough for a quick buck to try and attack us, so just keep a lookout. I'd ask Len to accompany me, but he's busy tonight."

"Len's busy?" she asked, curious now. Ian glanced at her, as though he was considering telling her more, but in the end he shrugged and the two of them fell silent. Miku stared down at the gun in her hands – she recognised this one, it was from Ian's private collection. She had realised that Yuma and Ian both had their initials engraved onto their weapons, and now a single 'I' was carved into the cold metal of the gun she held. She traced the letter, wondering how many people Ian had killed before with this very gun. She was certain that Ian had shot people before. Did he actually enjoy doing so?

"Where are we going?" after some time, she could no longer stand the silence and asked again, hoping for an answer this time. But once more Ian simply shrugged, his dark blue eyes fixed on the road ahead. She looked out of the window again, but all she saw was darkness. They definitely weren't in town anymore, that was for certain, but she couldn't guess where they were heading just yet. "What's Kiyoteru like, then?" she asked. Surely he could answer that.

Ian snorted. "He's friendlier than Kurotane, that's what I can say. If you like Yuma, you'd probably like Kiyo too. They're both too careful, if you want my opinion. Neither one of them are risk-takers. But then again, they're the older _caporegimes_. So they tend to be more cautious," he added, sounding a little more thoughtful now. Miku nodded. Ian's comment had interested her, though.

"How old are you? All of you, actually?" she asked, figuring now was as good a time to ask as any other. She only knew that Piko and Len were both her age, twenty-four. But the ages of the _capos_ remained a mystery. It was something that was never brought up while she was practicing, and she never really thought about it until now. Yuma seemed older and wiser than her, but at the same time he looked so young! And Ian…he looked young too, but she couldn't exactly place his age either.

"Yuma and Kiyo are both twenty-eight. Kurotane is twenty-three, and I'm twenty-five," Ian suddenly slammed on the brakes and Miku was flung forward, only saved by her seatbelt. She spluttered, the abrupt stop leaving her breathless. "We have company," Ian murmured, staring out into the night. She couldn't see anything – it was dark, the moon was hidden now and there were few streetlights illuminating the road – but before she could squint ahead the _caporegime_ switched gears, putting the car into reverse. "We'll just have to take another route and try to lose them," he mumbled.

She would think he'd be more nervous about being followed, but Ian was remarkably calm. She still couldn't see anyone – heck, she had no idea where they were going or where they even _were_ right now – but she tried to trust that Ian wouldn't get them both killed. He had done this kind of thing before, right? He must have! The windows suddenly started sliding down, and Miku turned to stare at Ian, who must have lowered them. "If I tell you to shoot, just stick the gun out and fire, okay? Doesn't matter even if you can't see them. The sounds should scare them off for a while."

"Who's following us?" she wanted to shout, but she was too nervous. And Ian was way too relaxed for her liking. The _capo_ had a faint smile on his face, and as she watched he made a sharp turn, heading down another deserted road. Miku could make out large, blurry shapes in the distance – were they in the countryside? Were those mountains? But they hadn't driven for long enough to be so far away from the city…as she wondered about where they might possibly be, a familiar sound pierced through the air and she cringed into her seat. Gunshots, and those definitely didn't come from them.

Ian still seemed unconcerned. "Shoot back at them. They're behind us," he glanced up at the rear-view mirror. "Their headlights aren't switched on, but if you look hard enough in the mirror you can see the reflections of their car…" he swerved again, and Miku gasped, sliding down her seat. "Don't take your time, shoot!" Ian raised his voice and she did as she was told, sticking her gun out of the window and firing behind them. Her hands were shaking and she was sure that she didn't even manage to hit anyone, but Ian made a sound of approval. Then for some reason, he slowed down.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. The _caporegime_ ignored her, instead swerving again – and suddenly Miku was thrown across her seat as their car slammed into another. There was a horrible screeching sound and she almost covered her ears, but then Ian pushed her down and grabbed her gun, firing past her head. She felt the heat as the bullets whizzed past her, and there was some muffled shouting – the bullets went back and forth over her and she shuddered, hiding her head beneath her hands. Then suddenly there was complete silence. She peeked up, past her hands.

Ian was staring over her head, breathing hard. The small smile still lingered on his face and the gun hung loosely from his hand, his other hand still on the steering wheel. She realised belatedly that the car was no longer moving. Cautiously, she raised her head, glancing out of the window. She could see the dark figure of a vehicle, pressed up right next to theirs – the other car looked like it was in pretty bad shape. The car was black like theirs, so she couldn't see very much, but she saw two shadowy figures in the front, one of them slumped over the wheel, the other leaning back in their seat. She didn't have to take a closer look to guess that both of these people were dead.

"Good job," the _caporegime_ suddenly spoke, and she turned back to face him, only now realising that she was shivering. He dropped the gun back onto her lap, looking seriously at her. She couldn't say anything so all she did was nod, her hands still shaking as she reached out to hold the gun. The metal was warm to the touch. "There might be others, so keep your wits about you. It's a pretty dangerous time to be outside, especially tonight," he continued conversationally. She nodded. Though Ian had warned her there might be trouble ahead, she didn't think it would be so soon…

Then she noticed a mark on Ian's cheek. Leaning forward, she peered at the dark mark and realised it was a wound. The _capo_ stared at her as she gasped, reaching out towards his cheek. She ignored the way he flinched back from her hand, focusing only on the graze. "You got hurt!" she exclaimed, lightly touching the area around the wound. He shook her hand off, turning away from her.

"It's just a small injury," he answered dismissively, looking ahead as he put the car in reverse, driving away from the wreckage. "I've had a lot worse. Didn't even notice it until you pointed it out," he grimaced. Miku placed her hands back on her lap, but she couldn't help staring at the flesh wound.

It was a pretty tiny injury, she had to admit that. Ian didn't seem to be particularly discomforted by it. In fact, she bet that if she hadn't pointed it out he wouldn't even have realised it. But it didn't seem like a good idea to just let the _capo_ bleed out – not that he really was bleeding, but it would probably be a good idea to cover up the wound nevertheless. It might get infected, after all.

"Is there a first aid kit or something in the car?" she finally asked, glancing again at the wound. She could see the angry red flesh which had been exposed by the bullet. Though it was no more than a graze, she still found the way he brushed the wound off to be pretty impressive. She knew that if she was the one who had gotten hurt, she'd be complaining a whole lot more. It made her wonder just how many times Ian had been injured in gunfights before.

"In the backseat," he grumbled. "You don't have to fuss over the injury, really. We're running late, Kiyo isn't going to be happy about this. Just stay still," he ordered. But she ignored him, instead turning back in her seat and reaching for the first aid kit, which she saw gleaming in a corner of the vehicle. Ian sighed audibly but didn't make any attempt to stop her as she brought the kit back with her to the front. Opening the kit, she looked around for some cleansing wipes and a plaster. The kit was pretty decently stocked so she didn't have any trouble finding what she was searching for.

"Pull over," she demanded, holding out the wipes and the plaster. Ian looked blankly at her, and she expected him to ignore her – she would have continued trying to clean his injury anyway, just that it'd be a lot harder in that case – but to her surprise, the _capo_ actually listened to her. The car glided to a stop and she took in a deep breath, getting to work on the bullet graze. She wasn't extremely experienced with cleaning wounds but even she could manage this. Ian didn't even flinch when she gingerly dabbed at his cheek with the wipes. His tolerance for pain was really very impressive.

"You shouldn't be wasting time on me," Ian finally spoke when she carefully placed the plaster on his cheek, covering up the wound. It shouldn't get infected now. "I heal pretty fast, you know. Or at least quickly enough that I don't have to care about stupid things like these," he indicated the graze. Miku let her hands fall back onto her lap and for a moment, the two of them just stared at each other. She didn't know how to reply without sounding overly concerned.

"I just don't think anyone should leave their injuries untreated, even if it's a really small cut," she finally muttered. "I mean, cuts can get infected too, and if that happens it'll just cause even more trouble for everyone. And why are you so suspicious about me showing concern for you anyway?" she fired back, meeting his gaze straight on. The blue of Ian's eyes was barely visible in the darkness.

He appeared to be startled by the question, and for a while he kept quiet. She thought that he might actually admit something – he seemed to be on the verge of speaking, and Miku had to hold her breath, wondering if the _capo_ would actually reveal information about himself for once. Ian had never really talked much about his past or himself, preferring to focus on the current situation rather than on anything too personal. Finally, he sighed. "Let's go," he muttered, starting up the car.

She felt a little disappointed. It really had seemed like Ian was about to reveal something. But she couldn't force him to say anything if he didn't want to, so she just slumped back in her seat and looked out at the road ahead while Ian continued to drive. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, and Miku wondered idly what he was thinking about. Maybe she'd be less intimidated by him if she knew more about his past. There had to be a reason why Ian turned out so rough and angry, right?

* * *

Miku looked around as she got out of the car, Ian leaning against a wall and staring out to the sea. They were in the city harbour, and the large blurry shapes she had noticed earlier were the silhouettes of ships, docked for the night. She could smell the salty tang of the ocean, a very unfamiliar scent to her.

"Where's Kiyoteru?" she hurried to Ian's side, hissing to him. Despite the shelter of the towering ships, she felt strangely exposed and vulnerable. The many hiding places the ships created for them also meant that any potential enemies could easily conceal themselves as well. And like Ian said, there might be other people secretly tailing them all the way to the harbour. If there were two men who tried to shoot and kill them on the way here, it seemed probable there would be others too.

"Coming," Ian breathed, still looking towards the sea. Miku glanced out as well and thought she could make out a very small, dark shape in the distance. A boat, perhaps? Maybe that was where the final _caporegime_ was. "Don't keep on pacing around me," he added as Miku walked back and forth, unable to keep herself still. "It's making me dizzy. Besides, if you keep moving around, you'll draw the attention of anyone who might be looking out for us," he warned her. Miku abruptly stopped.

The two of them waited in silence, Miku nervously hoping that there wasn't someone out there, waiting for her and Ian to show themselves so they could shoot at them. She wasn't prepared for a full-on gunfight – heck, she was a personal assistant, not one of Piko's _other_ employees! The dark shape on the water was getting closer and closer to the shore, and Miku saw that it was indeed a boat. She couldn't really make out how many people were there from this distance, but it didn't seem like a very big boat so there probably weren't too many people…maybe it was Kiyoteru?

She was pretty curious about what the final _capo_ was like. Ian didn't make him sound too terrible. Anyone who was similar to Yuma in any way felt…well, safer to be around than Ian. She'd rather deal with the cautiousness of the older _caporegimes_ than Ian's impulsive, violent recklessness. "Looks like they're arriving," Ian commented as the boat reached the shore, the figures on the small craft slipping out onto dry land. "Seems like Kiyo brought some company. I wonder who they are?" he murmured.

Miku wondered too. Ian didn't sound like he had expected the _capo_ to have any company. "Are you going to greet him?" she whispered, peeking out from behind Ian's shoulder. She suddenly felt extremely vulnerable. There were just too many uncertain factors in their current situation for her to feel safe. Ian paused, then slowly shook his head. They watched as the people who got off the boat reached into their vessel, taking something out from the bottom. Miku was close enough to Ian to see him stiffen at the sight of the item. She supposed this item was of great importance.

"Where's Kiyo?" Ian suddenly mumbled. Since Miku was standing behind him, she could not see his face, but he sounded surprisingly concerned. Miku looked past Ian's shoulder again, squinting at the shadowy figures. There were three men in total. "None of them are his height," he added, almost as if he was explaining his thought process to her – though it seemed more likely that he was just wondering out loud. "Maybe he's on another vessel, or this one just coincidentally chose the same night to dock…but that doesn't make sense, there's nothing in our reports or records…"

As Ian continued mumbling to himself, Miku heard a quiet rustling sound from behind them and whipped around, her heart thudding in her chest. The whole corridor behind her was empty, and all she saw was the towering silhouette of crates and boxes, awaiting loading onto the ships in the morning. But she swore she had heard something, and given how dangerous tonight was she didn't want to just wave it off. "Ian, I think there might be someone here with us," she tugged on his sleeve and whispered as softly as she could, hoping not to draw any attention.

Ian stopped mumbling at once and turned carefully around, eyeing her. He placed a finger to his lips and pointed into the distance, at the long corridor behind them. She nodded, hoping he was asking if that was where she heard the person, and he indicated for her to stay still and wait. She nodded again, and the _capo_ slipped away into the shadows, moving quietly past her down the corridor. He reached the end of the narrow passageway and turned, disappearing from view.

Everything just seemed quieter with Ian gone. The silence was practically deafening – she could feel the weight of it crushing her, and she closed her eyes, hoping that he would return soon. Even his sharp words and caustic humour were better company than this suffocating silence. Edging forward, she glanced at the shore again and saw the three figures hoisting something up between them, moving with difficulty towards the harbour. Whatever they were carrying, it was clearly very heavy.

Suddenly one of the figures carrying the crate – it appeared to be a crate, at any rate – looked up, seeming to stare in her direction. She hastily ducked behind the towering boxes around her, hoping that the person had not spotted her. Surely not from such a distance? She peered around, searching for Ian, but the _caporegime_ was still nowhere to be seen. She sank down onto the ground, suddenly wishing that she still had the gun. Ian had taken it from her when he parked the car, and while she was initially glad to be rid of it, she suddenly felt like she would be a lot safer if she still had it.

She heard another rustle, this time much closer to her, and she lurched to her feet at once, looking around for the source of the sound. She was panicking, but she told herself to stay calm – the last thing she wanted was to freak out and attract unnecessary attention. Where was Ian when she actually needed him? Balling her hands up into fists, she stood ready, thinking that at least she might be able to knock someone out in a fistfight. She was pretty strong, after all. Though hopefully her situation wouldn't turn into any kind of fight. She'd probably lose.

A warm gust of air went past her ear and she instinctively glanced around – at the same time, a hand closed over her mouth and an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her tight against the person. She wanted to scream, but then a familiar voice whispered into her ear – "It's me, it's just me, it's okay," Len murmured soothingly. She calmed down a little at the sound of his voice, thankful that it wasn't someone out to kill her. Though she did wonder why Len popped up here all of a sudden. "Where's Ian? Why are you here alone?" he continued, sounding unhappy. She tried to explain the situation to him, but his hand was still covering her mouth so she could only produce a few muffled noises.

He realised that, and hastily let go of her, though his arm remained around her waist. The weight of his arm was comforting, especially on a night like this. "I heard some rustling sounds and thought there might be someone here with us, so Ian went to check it out," she kept her voice low, still wary of her surroundings. Len nodded – she turned to look at him, but in the darkness she couldn't really make out the expression on his face. "What are you doing here?" she asked, stepping closer to him.

Len was warm. She was thankful for that. He was warm and solid, a familiar face – and she knew he was perfectly capable of looking after the both of them, which was a good thing, even if his skill set was morally dubious. "Piko sent me as backup. Actually I wasn't free at first, which was why you were told to go along with Ian, but I freed up my schedule so I can come here now. I was worried about you," he added, his arm tightening a little around her waist. Her face heated up at his words.

"Oh, um…" she didn't know how to respond to that, so she just leant out from behind the boxes and looked at the figures carrying the crate. They were almost at the harbour now, still struggling to lift the crate between them. "Thank you for worrying about me," she finally whispered, still looking at the figures rather than at Len. He chuckled and pecked her lightly on the cheek, and she wondered if he could feel how hot her skin was. "What are they carrying? And where is Kiyoteru?"

"I don't know who they are," Len admitted. "They may or may not be related to Kiyoteru, but I don't think any of them are him. None of those figures are his height. Kiyo is taller than Yuma…but we _are_ expecting company tonight, so maybe they're decoys. We'll have to ask Ian when he's back," he shifted, turning slightly to observe their surroundings. "But if that's the case, it's a very elaborate setup to protect just one man," he muttered, sounding disgruntled. Miku couldn't help but agree.

The three figures clambered up onto the pier and dropped the crate – and suddenly they all turned, looking towards where she was hiding. Miku froze up. They must have spotted her! Len seemed to realise the same thing and let go of her, tugging on her hand and pulling her deeper into the complex maze of crates and cargo. "We'll meet up with Ian later," he hissed as he ran nimbly through the towering stacks, Miku doing her best not to stumble while she struggled to keep up with him. "Stay low, and try not to trip!" he turned, pulling her along. Her breath was coming out in pants.

This night was way too exciting for Miku. She would never again do anything like this – Piko could fire her if he wanted to, she would not go out at night for any errand in the future! She wanted to ask Len if those people chasing them were catching up, but they were running so quickly that she decided against opening her mouth – she'd probably just bite her tongue if she tried to speak. Len kept taking different turns around the harbour and she had completely lost all sense of direction.

Suddenly a figure burst out from the passage opposite theirs, hurtling right towards them. Len came to a stop, but to Miku's surprise he didn't turn away – a few seconds later she figured out why. Ian was running towards them, a grim expression on his face. The gun he had taken from her was held tightly in his hand, and he looked ready to start firing at any moment. "Len!" he called out, having spotted the assassin. Len tugged gently on her hand, and she walked behind him to meet the _caporegime_. Ian looked like he was in a foul mood, which was nothing new, but given those people chasing her and Len…it seemed like a bad omen. She hoped that she wasn't overthinking things.

"Kiyoteru isn't here," Len answered, doing away with any courtesies. "Are you sure that Piko gave us the right night? He might have mixed it up with some other date…and who are the men at the harbour?" he added, his grip on her hand tightening. Ian exhaled, blowing some of his long fringe out of his face. His eyes were narrowed slightly, glaring at something in the distance behind her, but she could sense the searing heat of his gaze and she shivered, glad that at least that angry stare wasn't directed at her. What had set off Ian's terrible temper this time?

"No, it's the right date," Ian responded. "Just that for some reason Kiyo didn't dock tonight. Those men are suspicious though, coming on to shore the same night Kiyo was meant to be here. But let's get going first, this place isn't safe. The car is parked outside the harbour. Take care of your woman," Ian glanced at her expressionlessly, then returned his attention to Len. "She was a decent partner tonight, so it'd be a real pity if she dies in Paris, eh?" Miku gulped. Was Ian joking around with her?

It was hard to tell with the _capo_. Len shook his head but remained silent, and they followed Ian out of the harbour towards the car. They appeared to have lost their pursuers for now, but Miku couldn't help but wonder about those men, their mysterious crate and the missing _caporegime_. Ian and Len obviously had a better idea of what was going on than she did, but she also got the feeling that they didn't fully understand their current situation. Maybe Piko would explain tomorrow. For now, she'd just like to forget the fact that tonight, Ian had killed two men right in front of her.


	15. Chapter 15

Ian and Yuma exchanged shifty looks with each other as their boss snapped at whoever was on the other end of the line. "What do you mean, you don't know? I don't pay you to be a fucking _imbecile_!" Piko snarled, sounding uncharacteristically frustrated.

In fact, Ian thought that Piko, for once, sounded more like his father than his usual calm, even-tempered self. The _don_ had never been known for his patience, and the one thing that really set the _capo bastone_ apart from his father was his ability to think clearly no matter the circumstances. But it seemed like whatever Piko was hearing was greatly pissing him off.

"Very well," the silver haired _capo bastone_ appeared to have cooled off a little. "Get back to me immediately once you discover anything new. And if it's really the work of the Venetian bastards…" Piko's lips drew back from his teeth, a menacing snarl that Ian had only ever seen on Piko three times in all the years he had been serving the underboss. "If it is really the work of the Venetians, then we will make them _pay_. Now get to work!" he ordered.

With that, Piko hung up on the caller, and turned to face Ian and Yuma, who were still standing attentively in front of his desk. Piko closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair, and both _caporegimes_ waited nervously for Piko to speak. Ian had completely no idea why he was in here today. This morning, he received the message that he and Yuma had been summoned to Piko's office, so here they were. Whenever Piko called, they had to go, even if they were in the midst of something else at the moment.

Not that Ian really had been doing anything particularly important then, since he had just woken up when he received the text. He arrived home from the harbour just a while before dawn, and he managed to catch a few hours of sleep before he had to get up and prepare for the day. Piko allowed those who went for late-night operations to sleep in a little later than the rest, but honestly it was only two hours later than everyone else anyway, so it didn't make much difference to Ian. He might take a nap later if there wasn't much to do, but judging from the grim expression the _capo bastone_ had on his face, it seemed like he and Yuma would be kept very busy.

"Kiyo has been found dead," Piko abruptly announced, his eyes flicking open and boring straight into his two _caporegimes_. Ian and Yuma froze, unwilling to believe what they were hearing. Piko carried on, voice bleak. "After your alert, Ian, we sent men down to comb the beach and apparently, two bodies were discovered washed up on the shore, some distance away from the harbour. The corpses were identified to be Kiyoteru and the assistant he brought with him on his trip. The cargo he was supposed to bring back with him was not found on either one of them."

Ian still didn't know what to say, his mind reeling from the news. Hiyama Kiyoteru, dead? He could still remember the day when Kiyoteru finally became a _caporegime_. The man had been one of Ian's _soldato_ before he rose up within the ranks, and he had been so proud when one of his men got that highly sought-after promotion. Ian always assumed that out of all the _caporegimes_ , he would be the first to die, since he was undeniably the most reckless and hot-headed among them all, with the possible exception of Kurotane. So, hearing from Piko that their fellow _capo_ had been killed…he didn't know what he was supposed to feel.

Yuma was clearly affected by this news as well. "Dead?" he spoke, his voice a little strange. "Kiyoteru is…dead?" he repeated, as though he couldn't believe what he just heard. And frankly, neither could Ian. Kiyo was the last person anyone would call reckless. He was the most careful _capo_ , consistent and precise, and he never did anything that could be considered a risk. Among the four _capos_ , Ian would never have imagined that Kiyoteru would be the first to die – himself or Kurotane perhaps, but no, definitely not Kiyo. Piko nodded, looking weary.

"I'm as shocked as you are, but our men claimed that they found Kiyoteru's body, and DNA testing in our labs have confirmed that," Piko's voice was sombre. "They found the bodies a few hours ago. I was notified shortly after that, and I only told you two now because the lab results have proven our fears correct. They're still carrying out the autopsy to determine the cause of death, but as of now it looks like it was drowning…" his voice trailed off, and for a while none of them said anything. The only sound that could be heard was the faint whisper of the air-conditioning in Piko's office. Then the _capo bastone_ cleared his throat. "Of course, we need to determine if the deaths are a result of an accident or foul play, and we also need to find the location of our missing cargo. It would be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Will we hold a funeral?" Ian asked, staring intently at their underboss. Piko hesitated for a moment before nodding, and Ian relaxed, glad that at the very least, he'd have a proper send-off for his friend and comrade. Yuma placed a hand on his shoulder, and Ian resisted the instinctive urge to shrug the hand off, his gaze dropping to the floor. He and Kiyoteru had gotten along well, and the deceased man was one of the rare few who was patient enough to deal with Ian and understand that he was more than the anger and hostility he showed. It was really difficult, to come to terms with the fact that his former _soldato_ was now dead.

"We'll hold a funeral for both of them," Piko stated, clasping his hands together and placing them on his desk. His expression was solemn, his mismatched eyes empty. But both _capos_ knew that their underboss was not detached from the situation – far from it, in fact. The _capo bastone_ would not allow himself to have an emotional breakdown in front of his men. It was likely that Piko would mourn in private, once they left him and his office was empty once more. "Once the autopsies are completed, we can give them the farewell that they rightfully deserve. Who would have thought…?" his voice trailed away again, and he shook his head, leaning back into his chair. He exhaled. "I need to find a new _caporegime_."

"Who do you have in mind?" Yuma asked. Ian said nothing. Though he knew that they had to get someone to replace Kiyoteru, he was still in shock over his comrade's passing and he couldn't really think rationally at the moment. He almost wanted to shout at his _capo bastone_ , asking him how he could replace Kiyoteru so quickly, but he also knew that it would be foolish not to think ahead. Piko was the underboss of their _famiglia_ , and he couldn't afford to tarry with any decision. Being the underboss meant that he had to separate logic from emotion, and do what was best for the _famiglia_ as a whole regardless of his own feelings.

Piko had never been particularly sentimental, at least not in front of the rest of them. Ian figured that the _capo bastone_ could feel, but he simply chose not to show his emotions in front of his men, since that could be taken as a sign of vulnerability. None of them would ever try to usurp his position of course, with the possible exception of his half-brother, but it would not do Piko any good to show weakness to anyone. It was a difficult job he had, and Ian respected him for being able to do what was necessary. Kiyoteru's death had left him numb – when he found out who was responsible, he would make them suffer for what they had done.

"I don't know at the moment," Piko admitted after a pause. "There isn't really anyone who comes to mind…most of the other _soldato_ are either too inexperienced or have yet to prove themselves worthy of becoming _caporegime_. I need someone whose loyalty is without a single doubt unquestionable, especially during this period. Do you recommend anyone?"

Yuma frowned. "Kiyoteru was a loyal _caporegime_ , and he was both brave and intelligent. His shoes will not be easy to fill," the older _capo_ mused. "Most of my _soldato_ are still young and impulsive, more concerned with their own profits than with leading the other soldiers. Some of them may have the potential, but they are still too young, and I'm afraid that they will be unable to cope during this period. We have enough trouble with Paris and the Venetian _famiglia_ breathing down our necks. How about Ian? Kiyoteru was once his _soldato_ , after all – there might be someone else from his ranks who can step up to fulfil this responsibility. Ian?"

Ian jumped when Yuma called his name again, snapping him out of his daze. He coughed. "I can't think of anyone I would want to recommend now either," he looked from Yuma to his underboss, both men staring quizzically at him. "I only suggested Kiyoteru in the past due to his outstanding track record, and the fact that I could always rely on him to command the other _soldato_ when I was needed elsewhere. There is currently no one else among my men who can be trusted the same way…at least, none that I have noticed," he concluded, feeling as though he was speaking on autopilot. He could feel his lips moving and hear his own voice, but he couldn't really understand what he was saying. It was like he was in a little bubble.

Piko gave him a look that was almost sympathetic – _almost_ , but not quite. A few seconds later his expression became impassive once more. "Then for now, we should put the matter aside. We can consider at length Kiyoteru's replacement another time. Instead, let us decide how we shall break the news to the other soldiers, especially Kiyoteru's men."

"I don't think we should say anything for now," Ian blurted out unthinkingly, making Piko and Yuma turn to stare at him once again. He continued, mouth still moving without his permission. "We need the men to be focused right now. Telling them about their captain's death will only break their confidence and scatter them. They will not be fit to fight, which will be a problem since now, we might be facing so many enemies. We ought to let them know before we hold the funeral, but not at this very moment," he concluded.

Piko slowly nodded. "That makes sense," he murmured. "Especially now, with the Paris trip and the Venetians on high alert…and Len has reported to me, saying that the Red Scorpions are getting restless. Any day now, a turf war could break out between the Red Scorpions and another gang, and we will have to step in to prevent bloodshed in our territory," he scowled, dual coloured eyes narrowing. "Those goddamn Scorpions. It's a miracle that the other gangs haven't started a war with them yet. It's only a matter of time, since they're _still_ demanding protection money and moving around in areas not assigned to them. We need to wipe them out before the rats start fighting among themselves," he shook his head, sighing.

"Len also mentioned that they are doing all this because of the two Scorpion members who ran off with their money, though," Yuma spoke up thoughtfully. "And didn't he say that they both ended up becoming associates with the Venetian _famiglia_? It might be worth paying the Red Scorpions a visit to see what they have to say. Who knows, they might know something about the Venetians."

"Like what?" Ian snorted, glad to take his mind off Kiyoteru's passing for a moment. Though he was still very affected by the news, at least work was something that could distract him, even if it was only for a while. "If it's two of them who became associates with the _famiglia_ , it's hardly likely that the rest of them know anything about the Venetians. I think that we should just stamp out the Scorpions before they do anything to get us into more trouble."

"But neither can you rule out the possibility that the Scorpions themselves might have had a hand in Kiyoteru's death," Yuma argued, shutting Ian up instantly. "We all know that his cargo was sought after by many, even those on our own territory. It's worth a fortune to the right bidder, and if the Scorpions are as destitute as they claim, it's entirely possible that _they_ were the ones who hijacked the shipment, rather than the Venetian _famiglia._ No?"

"Yes, that is correct as well," Piko interjected before Ian could retort. "The fact that the two Scorpions could join the Venetian _famiglia_ hints at a possible insider within the gang. Most of the Red Scorpions may not necessarily know anything about the Venetians, but I suspect they have an informant among them, someone the Venetians planted to keep an eye on our activities. So, we need to move carefully. Ian, once the autopsy report is back, send someone to search for Kiyo's missing cargo. _That_ is our most urgent priority – anything else can wait, including nominating his successor," Piko waited for Ian to grudgingly nod before he continued. "And Yuma, follow me. It's time we paid a visit to our _friends_."

Yuma nodded, and Piko began to rise from his chair, but Ian opened his mouth and said something that made the _capo bastone_ pause – "Why can't we just ask Rin to search for the missing cargo? Her entire department is in charge of surveillance and information. She would be the best bet we have at finding the missing item before anyone else gets their hands on it," he folded his arms across his chest, frowning at the other two men. Piko and Yuma silently waited for him to continue. "I just don't understand why we're doing all this in such a roundabout way. Sending our men to search for it…it's an almost impossible task, and God knows how long it'll take. That thing could be anywhere by now!" he exclaimed.

Piko stared unblinkingly at him. "Ian, you know what is in that container," he spoke quietly. "Tell me honestly if you really think, for even just a second, that Kagamine Rin would be willing to search for it without completely losing her mind." Ian swallowed, knowing that Piko was right – there was no way the hacker would go anywhere near the container, not even upon Piko's orders or to save her own life. Frankly, Ian didn't quite want to be near that thing either. Kiyoteru was the one sent to do the job because he was mature, sensible and he did whatever Piko told him to do. And look where that subservience got him.

"Very well," he muttered. "Once the autopsy results are in, and we have some lead on who might have attacked Kiyoteru and his assistant, then I'll send a few men to investigate and we'll see what we can find. Can I use Len's services, if required?" he asked. The assassin was under Piko's direct hire, so none of the _caporegimes_ could order him around without Piko's explicit permission. Piko nodded as Yuma held out his coat for him, helping the _capo bastone_ to put it on.

"But warn Len to be careful. We don't want anything happening to him before he can carry out his final errand," Piko cautioned. Ian nodded. He probably wouldn't need to tell Len that anyway – the assassin was undeniably skilled, and he knew how to watch himself without anyone else's reminders. He wasn't entirely happy about having to rely on the assassin – Ian wouldn't trust Len with anything if possible – but he needed the man's reconnaissance skills and his ability to sneak into places undetected. His _soldato_ were fighters and aggressors. They were good at combat, but not so much at covert work. That was more of the hackers and spies' domain, but in this case, they couldn't let anyone else know about this…

Kiyoteru's mysterious cargo was something known only to Piko's inner circle. No one other than the _don_ , the _consigliere_ and the _caporegimes_ knew what Kiyoteru had been carrying, though Len and Miku were now aware that the _capo_ retrieved something of importance. Ian also suspected that Rin was aware of Kiyo's mysterious container, but like her twin brother, she did not know what were the contents. And if Piko had his way, no one else would find out what the container held either. The last thing they wanted was for Kagamine Rin to go ballistic. She'd probably lock herself in her house and refuse to come out for a year.

"Where is Len now, anyway?" Yuma wondered aloud as Piko tucked his arms into his sleeves, fingers deftly buttoning up his coat. "I haven't heard anything from him since last night, which is strange, given that he's supposed to report to one of us or to Piko himself every night. Did you see where he went after the harbour incident?" he asked Ian.

Ian shrugged. He wasn't the assassin's babysitter or anything, so how was he supposed to know? "He probably sent the girl home. I don't know where he went after that. Most likely back to that shady little inn, unless he ended up going drinking somewhere. And I don't think he has anything to report to us anyway, since I was there the whole time with the girl. Len showed up late. He might have noticed something about those men I didn't though."

"Give him a call," Piko instructed. "Tell him to come down to the main office now, and you can assign him to work at whatever you need help with. Also, could you drop my brother a message? Tell him that Kiyoteru is dead. Kurotane may not particularly like me, but I think he's always respected Kiyo, so I'm sure he would appreciate the notification," for just a moment, sadness flitted across Piko's face, but then just as quickly the emotion was gone.

"Understood," Ian nodded, turning away and leaving the office. Piko and Yuma remained behind, still discussing their plans. Ian knew that the term ' _visit_ ' was just a code word for punishment and extermination, and he wasn't too happy about missing it – making an example out of the reckless Red Scorpions would really help his mood right now – but his underboss had ordered him to do something, so he had to listen. It was part and parcel of being a member of the _famiglia_. When the _capo bastone_ spoke, no one dared to disobey.

* * *

Len whistled as he walked into the office, shooting the surrounding office workers a dazzling grin. Most of them had seen him around before though some still outright stared, and a few women tittered before giving him shy waves. He walked through the lobby, searching for one of the more hidden elevators, and sighed in relief when the elevator doors slid shut behind him.

The main office was a pain to get to. But really, Hyrex itself was a pain. There wasn't really a _main_ office per se, since in his particular context it just referred to whichever office Piko was using at the moment. The real headquarters of Piko's company was at Hillview Avenue, just one of the many corporate buildings situated within the central business district. But if Piko wasn't there, then it wasn't the office Len was supposed to go to. So, as a result he had to dig around a little to find out where his employer currently was, and it turned out to be at the branch office all the way on the other side of the city. At least he wasn't overseas this time…

He took the elevator down instead of up, still whistling tunelessly to himself. The floors whizzed past, and a few moments later he was down at the lowest level of the complex, where the secret offices were located. He took out his employee pass, resignedly going through the many layers of security that were present for all the underground offices, and eventually he made it into the main lobby. He wondered where Ian was. The irate _capo_ was the one who asked him to come to the main office, but Len supposed that he had clearance with Piko to use his services. Ian wouldn't call him for any other reason.

"Assassin!" he whipped around and saw Ian striding into the lobby, his trademark scowl on his face. His mood seemed blacker than usual, if that was even possible. Len instantly sobered up, knowing that something was definitely wrong. Admittedly, Ian was almost always in a foul mood, but there was a difference between Ian's _typical_ irritation and true anger, and right now, the _capo_ was clearly experiencing the latter. Something must have happened after last night in the harbour, and Len was curious about what it was.

"Ah, _caporegime_ ," Len greeted him as Ian came to a stop, arms folded across his chest, his dark blue eyes narrowed. "You seem to be in a truly horrendous mood today. Why, did something happen?" he tilted his head, hoping that Ian didn't intend to take his frustration out on him today. Len was generally very patient, but he didn't like getting yelled at for no reason – did anyone enjoy that, really? – and after travelling all the way across the city at Ian's summons, he wasn't in the mood right now to be used as a punching bag. Ian remained silent for a moment, which made Len wonder even more, though he didn't let that show on his face.

Finally, the _capo_ turned. "Follow me," he said brusquely, and he began to walk. Len did as he was told, glancing around the departments to see if he could spot any clues about what had happened. However, as he passed by the various offices, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. This branch office was smaller than most of the other hidden locations, and there were very few employees working here. The few hackers there were did not seem to be doing anything unusual, all of them still focused on their desktops as always, nor did there seem to be any spies recuperating in this office at the moment.

Ian led Len all the way to Piko's underground office in this branch, which was currently vacated, though the empty cup on the desk suggested that the _capo bastone_ had been here just recently. Len rarely ever saw Piko without a cup of tea by his side. "Shut the door," Ian instructed as Len walked in, and he did as Ian said, turning around and ensuring that no one else could enter the room. Piko's office was bare and minimal, filled with only the essentials – there was a laptop, a few folders, a pen and a notepad on his desk, but little else. It looked like the man was about to pack up and leave at any moment, which was actually entirely possible since Piko frequently changed the offices he used. He claimed it was to have a better understanding of all the branches he oversaw, but Len knew that it was also in order to stay on the move, and hide from his father and half-brother for as long as possible.

It would be an understatement to say that Utatane Piko did not get along particularly well with his family. The _capo bastone_ and the _don_ had a cordial, if slightly strained, familial relationship, but everyone knew that Utatane and Kurotane had an unhealthy rivalry with each other, and Kurotane was the one _capo_ who hardly ever knew the underboss's plans. If Kurotane was to ever usurp Piko's position, all hell would break loose. Len already knew that his sister would immediately resign and disappear if that happened, since she told him before that she absolutely refused to work for a madman like Kurotane. Len had never met the _caporegime_ personally, but from what he was told, he sounded like an unpleasant man.

"Now you may stop walking on eggshells around me," Len proclaimed, sitting on the chair facing the desk and wondering what all this secrecy was about. He still wasn't too happy about Piko's decision not to attack the Venetian _famiglia_ and call off the Paris trip, but he had to respect his choice no matter what. He was paid only to carry out his work, not to question his boss. And normally he wouldn't care at all what Piko did with the information he provided. In fact, he ought to be happy about the Paris mission going ahead, since once that mission was completed he was a free man. But Miku…he was concerned about her.

After what happened in the harbour last night, he thought it would be better if he dropped her off at her apartment – he didn't feel safe just letting her go home by herself, since she might be followed and targeted by the same group which had been hunting Kiyoteru and Piko's men. Miku called him this morning and told him that Piko had given her the day off, and Len made her promise not to leave her house unless there was someone coming to escort her – _someone_ like himself, Ian, Piko, or anyone else who had some skill with a gun. Miku reluctantly agreed to that, clearly wondering about the need for all this security, and it was only then that Len finally responded to Ian's text, going across the city to meet him.

He couldn't help but fret about her still. Even if she agreed to stay in her own apartment – and he suspected that her promise wouldn't hold for long – there was always the chance that someone would break into her house and hold her ransom. He never had to worry about another person before, since anyone who mattered even the slightest bit to him had some knowledge of self-defence, but Miku was genuinely helpless compared to those who survived in their world, and it made him nervous. He'd better call her to check that she was still at home after he was done with whatever Ian wanted him to do. Ian suddenly sighed.

"I don't know how much you know about our mission last night. You are aware that we were meant to escort Kiyoteru and his cargo to safety, yes?" the _capo_ asked. Len cautiously nodded. Kiyoteru and his mysterious cargo…Len had no idea what was the thing the _capo_ had been transporting, but he assumed that it was of great importance to Piko since he told Len to drop everything else and go to the harbour as backup. It didn't matter to him what the item was, since he was only an employee and he could hardly care less about anything that wasn't directly relevant to him, but after last night he wondered where Kiyoteru was.

They hadn't managed to escort him since the man never even showed up. It was really odd, since Kiyoteru was arguably the most responsible _capo_ and he wouldn't promise something he could not fulfil – if he said he was going to return on a certain night, then it was all but guaranteed that he would return on that said night. Unless…unless something happened that disturbed all his careful plans. Len suddenly got a very bad feeling about this.

"Yes. Though the _capo_ did not appear at the harbour, and we ended up being chased by a group of unknown men," he answered lightly, running his fingers along the armrest of his chair. "Do you have any idea who might those people at the harbour be? It was quite a pain, dealing with them afterwards…I don't know who they were, but I hoped that you might."

"Wait," Ian blinked, sounding surprised. Len tilted his head. "You _killed_ them? Those men from last night? When? I thought you sent the girl home, and that was it," his voice suddenly took on a tone of urgency, and Len thought that the _capo_ might be on the verge of shaking him. Ian must be pretty agitated in that case. Which was nothing new, but given the current situation, Len really suspected that something was up. Why couldn't Ian just _say_ what it was?

"Yeah, I bumped them off. I figured I was obligated to," he shrugged. "I mean, there were three armed, dangerous men chasing us and since we were expecting Kiyoteru that night, I thought it was much too coincidental. So, after I sent Miku home I went back to the harbour to see if I could find out who they were. They were still there so I killed them," he frowned at Ian, who was gaping at him, an incredulous expression on his face. "Was I not supposed to? I was never told that I _couldn't_ kill someone – usually Piko doesn't care who I shoot as long as it's not someone from the _famiglia_. You're not going to cut my pay, are you?"

"No, no," Ian interjected, still staring at him, eyes wide with surprise. "It wasn't anything you weren't supposed to do, just…" his voice trailed off, and he looked like he was lost for words. Len raised an eyebrow. He had half a mind to just get up and leave since this looked like it was going to be a waste of time, but Ian suddenly looked up and spoke again, his words hard and pointed, like how he usually sounded. "Where did you leave the bodies?"

Len made a face. "I shot them at the harbour, so I just dumped them in the sea. Why, did they have something you wanted? The crate that we saw them carrying was already gone by the time I got there – it was just the three of them left," he thought back to the events of the morning. Actually, he didn't tell Ian the full reason why he shot them – it wasn't just because he thought they were targets he was supposed to eliminate, it was also because they had seen Miku and would probably guess that she was, in some way, related to Piko's _famiglia_. He didn't want Miku in any greater danger than she already was, so he thought it would be best to nip any trouble in the bud, before those men could report back to whoever their superiors were.

It hadn't been difficult to get rid of them. Three precise shots fired in quick succession was enough to resolve the problem, and then he just had to weigh the bodies down with rocks and roll them into the sea. Of course, he had searched the bodies first to see if there was anything of interest, but he hadn't found anything, not a single penny on them. They didn't even have watches or phones, much to his chagrin, though he had spotted an intricate tattoo on one of the men's arms that reminded him of a gang symbol. It was not the symbol of the Red Scorpions, but it was vaguely familiar and it made him uneasy.

However, since the three men were dead and there was probably no way for their superiors to trace them, he figured that everything was settled and there ought to be no cause for alarm. When Ian asked for more information, this was what Len told him, and at once the _caporegime_ held out Piko's notepad and demanded that Len redraw the tattoo to the best of his ability. Len rolled his eyes but complied, copying out the symbol perfectly, and when he was done Ian snatched up the piece of paper and stared at it, blue eyes narrowed.

"So, are you going to explain to me what happened last night, or am I supposed to sit here and continue pretending that I actually have an idea where this is going?" Len asked, beginning to feel annoyed. Ian held out a hand, shushing him as he pored over the drawing, and Len rolled his eyes again, spinning around in the office chair. He could be in his room having a good rest now, but no, he was stuck here waiting while Piko's _capo_ stared intently at an ink drawing as though his very life depended on that stupid scrap of paper. But he was also aware that one reason why he was so irritable was due to the bad feeling he had in his gut.

Something had gone deeply, terribly wrong. Ian's face said it all. But Len still had no idea what had happened last night. He wanted answers. "This symbol…" Ian muttered. "If I am not mistaken, it belongs to one of the gangs that falls under the control of the Venetian _famiglia_. So they really did have something to do with this…but how did they find out?" Ian's blue eyes suddenly flicked up to meet Len's gaze, his face completely expressionless. "You wanted to know what happened last night. Well, this morning, Piko called Yuma and I to his office and told us that Kiyoteru was found dead on the beach near the harbour, just a few hours ago," he explained. Len blinked, unsure if he had heard him right. Hiyama Kiyoteru, dead?

Surely not? Who would be able to kill Kiyoteru? He wasn't a new _capo_ , not like Kurotane. For all of Kurotane Piko's bravado, there was no denying that _he_ was the least experienced and the weakest among the four. Kiyoteru definitely knew what he was doing. Whoever had managed to bump him off was clearly very good at their job, because Len did not think for a single second that his death was due to a freak accident. No, someone had gone after him with the clear intention of murder, and whoever it was had succeeded in their mission.

"And you think it might be due to the three men?" Len spoke slowly, thinking over this possibility as he spoke. "But…why would they kill Kiyoteru? What motive would they have for that, unless they somehow knew he was carrying something – and speaking of that, what _was_ he transporting anyway? Seems like everyone wants to get their hands on it, judging from what you just said," Len leant back in his chair, staring up at Ian. Ian placed the drawing down on the desk, sitting at the edge of the table with a small frown on his face.

"It's a weapon," Ian's tone was harsh. "I'm quite sure that those three men are involved, but the crate that we saw them carrying onto the beach definitely wasn't Kiyoteru's cargo. The crate is simply too big, and it looked too heavy as well. As of now we still don't have any idea where the weapon went, but…I think that crate they were transporting might be a good place to start searching. We cannot afford to have our cargo falling into the wrong hands. It'd be deadly if it is used without careful instruction," Ian got up from the desk.

"Hold on," Len stopped spinning his chair around. "What's all this about a weapon? Are you lot preparing to go to war with someone?" he asked, rising from his chair as well. This news concerned him. Piko never told him anything about a fight with anyone – well, not besides the Venetians, but the _capo bastone_ had also made it clear that they were not going to attack that particular _famiglia_ right now. And it didn't seem like the Palermo _famiglia_ had feuds with any other _famiglie_ at the moment…Ian averted his gaze, looking away from Len.

"No, we're not," he stared impassively at the floor. "We just intended to get our hands on the cargo and sell it to the highest bidder. But now we've lost it, so it's something we need to retrieve. Not only is it a major loss for us, it could very easily wipe out an entire city, and we will not stand by and do nothing while someone else profits from our misfortune," Ian bared his teeth. "It doesn't matter to me how many people die; how the weapon is used is not my business, nor is it the business of anyone else in our _famiglia_. But it _is_ my business if we end up losing all the money we could have potentially made. And we already know there are people willing to pay a high price for what we offer," he glanced up at Len, his expression almost challenging.

Len snorted. "Are you thinking that I'd condemn you for wishing to profit from a weapon of mass destruction? I'm hardly someone who can judge anyone else for their lack of morals," he explained, perfectly aware of his own unscrupulous methods. Ian blinked. "I have zero intention of pretending that I am a kind man. We both know I am not. So, let me guess…you called me here today because you need help retrieving your missing weapon?" he tapped his fingers against his chin, waiting for the _capo_ to answer. Ian grudgingly nodded.

"We still need to wait for Kiyoteru's autopsy report before we can make any moves, but your drawing has provided us with a clue. We can start from there. I don't know if any others from that gang are in our city now, but if there are…" Ian's gaze hardened. "We need to hunt them down and ask them what is their business here. Gangs may not be part of the _famiglie_ but they are nevertheless affiliated to them. I'm certain that the Venetians are involved."

"How did they even know about something like this, though?" Len wondered. "After all, if this was such a covert operation then surely no one else should have known of Kiyoteru's activities, much less the exact night he would dock at the harbour. Unless you suspect that there is a traitor within the _famiglia_ …?" he asked slowly, the possibility dawning upon him.

Ian hissed, blue eyes alight with carefully controlled fury. Given that the _capo_ was known more for his impulsiveness and his reckless rage, this kind of simmering anger was much more intimidating than his usual displays of wrath. "I don't know whether or not there is a traitor, but I intend to find out. Whoever it was caused the death of my fellow _caporegime_. And when I do find out…" Ian paused, then he smiled thinly at Len. "I will make them _pay_."


	16. Chapter 16

Miku perked up when the doorbell rang. She had been stuck at home the whole day and she was terribly bored. Piko told her she didn't need to come to work today, and then Len told her to not leave the house unless it was absolutely, unavoidably necessary.

He sounded so serious when he told her to stay at home that she didn't protest. Usually, she would complain about how boring that would be, but Len didn't sound like his usual self and that made her nervous. She peeked through the peephole and saw a familiar figure waiting with golden hair and bright blue eyes – opening the door, she waved Len inside, and he slipped in wordlessly, his gaze flitting warily around them. "Len, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm great!" he brightened the moment she closed the door behind them. Luka was at work, and the other girl they shared the apartment with was out as well, so that meant she was truly alone. It was beginning to feel a little lonely, especially since Piko had yet to give her any work to do, so she had been praying for some kind of distraction. Seeing Len now was like a godsend. "Has anyone else come to visit you today?" he checked.

She shook her head, bemused. Len's sudden paranoia was unsettling. "Is something wrong? I mean, asking me to stay in my apartment and everything…it's just really unlike you," she hedged, wondering if he would explain anything to her. She was pretty sure that all this was to do with what happened last night, but there was total silence on that end. Ian didn't call her again, and Len had yet to divulge any details to her either. Len seemed hesitant.

"A few things happened," he sighed, sounding uncharacteristically sombre. The unease in her gut intensified. "But before I tell you anything, maybe we should go grab a bite. I don't know about you, but I haven't had lunch yet, so I'm kind of hungry. Want to join me?" he smiled then, a bright cheery grin that made her feel marginally better. She nodded eagerly – anything to get out of her apartment for a while – and, slipping her hand in his, the two of them left her house to search for a nice place to eat at. Len seemed unwilling to talk about last night while they were walking, instead asking her about her day and what she did so far.

"Nothing much," she complained, looking around the street for an eatery that interested her. She definitely wasn't in the mood for pasta today, that much she knew. "It's really weird to admit this, but working for Piko was keeping me super occupied and well…okay, it's _interesting_ so it never really felt like work. Not having to drop by the office or anything just feels so strange! Like part of my life went missing," she exhaled, spotting a café at the end of the road. She pointed at it and Len nodded agreeably, so they set off in that direction.

"Sounds like you're getting pretty attached to your job," Len remarked, blue eyes alight with curiosity. Miku frowned – did it seem that way? She supposed it would, given how lost she felt without her work. Work really didn't feel like work. Normal people didn't do the things she did when she went to the Greybird Road compound. After all, learning how to aim and fire a gun just wasn't part of most people's job scopes. "It's good to enjoy your work. Just don't get too involved. Learning how to shoot people isn't really a good thing, you know," Len cautioned, and his warning echoed some of her own concerns. She pursed her lips.

He was right. Should she be concerned that she actually _liked_ what she was learning? Did that mean she enjoyed being a dangerous, violent person? The possibility that she might end up like Ian made her feel faintly sick. "Well, enough about me. What have you been doing all morning?" she changed the topic, hoping to distract herself from her fears.

"I went to find Ian," Len pushed the café door open, holding it for her, and she stepped past him with a grateful smile. "He needed to ask me for a favour. Or maybe he was giving me a job, depending on how you look at it…" he frowned as they found a table near the window. There were two menus lying on the table, and Miku glanced through it, wondering what she ought to have for lunch. She wasn't feeling too hungry. "Piko and his men lost something important, so I've been tasked with retrieving it. A harder job than it sounds," he observed.

"What did they misplace?" Miku asked, curious. It didn't sound like Piko to lose anything. Despite his flirtatiousness and how that made her _not_ take him seriously at times, he was a careful and meticulous planner – she had watched him during his meetings, and that much she was able to figure out. Len scratched the back of his head, looking through the menu.

"Some sort of weapon. It was the cargo Kiyoteru was supposed to bring back last night," Len answered absentmindedly, blue gaze scanning through what was on the menu. "Should I get steak or fish?" he added, and she leant over to take a look at the pictures of said items. After some back-and-forth, Len settled on steak and she went for avocado toast – a café brunch staple, and one of her favourite indulgences. A server took their order, then they were left alone.

"I'm wondering though, how did Kiyoteru's cargo go missing? Since he wasn't even at the harbour last night?" Miku wondered aloud. "I mean, how did Piko find out?" she met Len's gaze, and he looked grim. The feeling of foreboding returned, stronger than ever. "It's not good news, is it?" she realised. Len started playing with his paper napkin, ripping the edge of it to tiny shreds, and she found his lack of response even more suspicious. "Len?"

He exhaled, blue gaze turned away from her. "Ian told me that they found Kiyoteru's body on the beach last night. Someone followed him, most likely murdered him before he could dock, then ran away with his cargo," Len explained. There was a sinking feeling in Miku's stomach – she didn't know the _caporegime_ personally, but hearing that one of Piko's men was dead was extremely sobering. It drove home just how dangerous that life was – the guns, the deaths, the risks that these people took were all things she could never face.

"How are the other _capos_ doing?" she asked hesitantly, guessing that this news probably hit them hard. Ian and Yuma were clearly on very good terms with each other, and she supposed that Kiyoteru was no different. The other _caporegimes_ surely must be affected by his death. Piko as well, since he had lost one of his men. She remembered Yuma telling her in the past that a _caporegime_ was a captain who led the men underneath him and acted as their boss' eyes and ears. Piko was their boss – Kiyoteru's death must have really hit all of them hard…

"I don't know about Yuma or Kurotane. But Ian seemed to be in a worse mood than usual if that was even possible," Len shook his head, sighing. She watched him closely, seeing his unusual sombreness in a new light. "I asked you not to leave your house today without any supervision because of last night. Those three men at the harbour…I don't know who they are or who they work for, but for your own safety until we've done something about these people it'd be best if you try to keep out of public eye. I'm sure that's why Piko gave you the day off as well – that, along with the confusion which follows the death of one of the _caporegimes_."

"What's going to happen now?" she asked, concerned. Would someone else be promoted to replace Kiyoteru as _capo_? Or would Piko simply carry on with three _capos_ instead of four? Len shrugged, staring out of the window. He seemed tense, now that she paid him careful attention. At first glance, he looked as relaxed as ever, but the way his blue gaze kept flitting around, never quite settling on any one thing for too long, gave his nervousness away.

She was getting better at reading body language and people's expressions, especially Len's. It was probably a good thing, but being able to pick up his subtle unease made her feel on edge as well. "That's up to Piko. I don't think he will promote anyone just yet, since from what I heard there isn't anyone he deems capable enough to push up to _caporegime_ , but I don't think he can function with just three _capos_. Kurotane doesn't help Piko much since he listens only to their father, so he's left with just Yuma and Ian. That really restricts him."

Miku blinked. "His father?" she asked. Come to think of it, she had heard very little about his father. The only time she recalled Piko mentioning the man was usually when he talked about having to submit reports. She figured that his father was the overall head of Hyrex, but she didn't really think that he might be involved in the _dark_ side of Piko's business as well. She never put two and two together, but now that she thought about it, it certainly made sense that all of Piko's illicit activities were part of some kind of family trade.

"Yeah, his father, the _don_ ," Len seemed to be particularly chatty today. He usually didn't tell her so much about Piko's criminal organisation, preferring to talk about more light-hearted things. "Think of the _don_ as the big boss. Piko is the underboss, the _capo bastone_ – oh, you never heard anyone referring to him that way before, have you?" he added, noting the look of surprise on her face. "Piko has to report to his father regarding both the legitimate and illegal activities they carry out. But his father is pretty much just a figurehead by this point."

"A figurehead?" she echoed. This conversation was extremely interesting, but at the same time, it was sobering. The more she found out, the more she suspected that she was actually involved with the Mafia. But imagining Piko as a Mafia underboss…surely that couldn't be the case. It just seemed too fantastical. Did the Mafia even exist in real life anymore? She thought that they were simply the remains of movies and pop culture. Len looked like he wanted to say something, but their server suddenly came to their table with her avocado toast and his steak, and he promptly shut his mouth, choosing to dig into his meal instead.

She wanted to prompt Len and get him to continue his train of thought, but he looked so satisfied with his food that she decided it would be cruel to interrupt his meal. Instead, she quietly ate her avocado toast, noting that this café had particularly good, flavourful avocado spread. She might come back in the future. Her toast was gone faster than the steak, and as she waited for Len to finish, she gazed out of the window, watching people on the roads outside.

There were a few people walking around outside. She focused on someone coming down the street, dressed in a black coat and skinny jeans – his green hair made him stand out immensely from the rest, and as the person approached the café, she realised with a jolt that it was Nakajima Gumo, the spy she hadn't seen since…since before getting hired by Piko. She let out a gasp of surprise, causing Len to look up at her. "Hey, isn't that Gumo?"

Len's eyes widened. "And so it is," he muttered, peering out of the window. At that exact moment, Gumo glanced at the café and caught Miku's eye, and he stopped in his tracks, gaping at her as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Miku began waving at the spy, and after a moment's hesitation, Gumo turned towards the café and came over. He stood outside the window, just staring at them in shock, and Miku gestured to him to join them at their table. Gumo made a face, but he complied, walking into the building.

"What are you doing here, Gumo?" Miku asked while the spy drew up a chair, sitting with her and Len. Len offered Gumo part of his steak – it was almost completely gone by this point anyway – but Gumo shook his head, running a hand through his messy windblown hair. There was a pretty strong breeze blowing outside, now that Miku noticed.

"I had some drug deal to oversee nearby," he answered. Miku instantly regretted asking the question. "At least it went without a hitch…Boss has started making us do grunt work," he snorted. "I did not train so long and develop such a varied skill set just to run stupid errands for Utatane Piko," he added, sounding extremely disgruntled, and Miku bit her lip, trying not to laugh. "But why are you here, Len? I heard Ian had some pretty urgent work for you."

"Recharging before I devote myself completely to an impossible task," Len deadpanned. "I also wanted to check up on Miku. News sure travels fast around the office, doesn't it?" he popped his last bit of steak into his mouth. "Are you going to visit Rin, by the way? I haven't heard from her in a while, which is pretty strange. Any idea what she's up to nowadays?"

Gumo shook his head. Miku suddenly remembered that he was Rin's boyfriend – even now, she still found it hard to believe. Kagamine Rin just didn't seem like the kind of person who wanted or even _needed_ a boyfriend. "She's become even more secretive than she already is. I think she's stressed, actually. Preparing for Paris and everything," Gumo glanced at her, a look of curiosity on his face. "How are you feeling about the trip? It's really soon, isn't it?"

Truth be told, she had sort of forgotten about it until he mentioned it just now. The past few days had been so intense, and so much had happened that the Paris mission was pushed to the back of her mind. "Oh. Um," she hesitated. "I've been training with Yuma and Ian. Piko too sometimes. They've been showing me how to aim and fire a gun," she explained.

Gumo whistled. "You? Firing a gun? Now, _this_ I must see," he grinned. Miku wasn't sure if she should treat his words as friendly teasing or a thinly-veiled insult. She hoped it was the former. "I haven't seen Yuma or Ian in a while, now that you bring them up…how are they doing?" he asked. She was surprised to hear what sounded like genuine concern in his voice.

"Fine," Len cut in before she could say anything. She glanced at Len, wondering why he was so hasty to answer, and noticed him shake his head just slightly – it was the most minute of actions, and if she hadn't been staring at him, she would have missed it. Perhaps he did not want her to tell Gumo about Kiyoteru's death? She had wanted to since she believed that Ian and Yuma were not in the best of moods and it would be good if they had people around them to sympathise with them, but she kept her mouth shut. Gumo seemed unsurprised by Len's interruption, instead choosing to steal some of the blond assassin's fries. "You might want to drop by the Greybird compound if you want to chat with them. That's where they usually are."

"Yeah, I heard. I was surprised to find out. That's Ian's territory, so it was just strange that Yuma is there all the time now. He's hardly ever in his office," Gumo shrugged. "I mean, it's not like I know much about the _capos_ and what they're doing. We belong to very different departments," he tried to take another fry, but Len used his fork to bat the spy's hand away.

"They're there because Piko instructed them to help Miku with her gun practice," Len's words held just the faintest tinge of disapproval. She winced. It seemed like he was still unhappy about her learning how to use a gun. "I'm still hoping that there won't be any chance for her to put what she learnt to use, but just in case anything happens…well, it's good that she's not going in unprepared, I suppose," his voice was filled with reluctance.

"You're overprotective, Len," Gumo told him bluntly. Len just rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored the spy. Miku felt her face heat up a little when Gumo called Len overprotective – it was always nice to hear others saying or implying that Len cared about her. Sometimes it still felt like a dream that someone as gorgeous as Len was interested in her – but then she would remember that he was an assassin and that his good looks were the least fantastical part of their entire situation. "Even Rin has been saying that you're mollycoddling her."

"Then what do you want me to do, bring Miku along whenever I shoot someone?" Len's tone was so dry that she couldn't help but giggle despite the morbid subject matter. It was fun to see Len and Gumo interacting – she had forgotten what it was like to watch them together. It really had been a while since she last saw Gumo, she realised. She could still remember the first time she met him. He had been disguised as a waiter while she was on her first date with Len. That was the day she found out that Len wasn't lying about killing for a living.

"I would prefer not to tag along," she voiced her opinion, and Len grinned at her, ruffling her hair playfully. She complained a little, reaching up to tidy her messy hair, but she blushed anyway. "Gumo, what do you do all day? Besides running errands for Piko, I mean," she changed the topic, curious about what duties the spies had. Ian and Yuma only ever seemed to do whatever Piko told them to do, and in their spare time, Yuma would read and Ian would polish his weapon collection. Otherwise, they seemed to be…pretty free, actually.

"We mostly gather intelligence about rival organisations and criminals," Gumo's attention turned to her. "The information used to plan the Paris mission was provided by both my department and Rin's. Without such intel, it would be difficult to manoeuvre. In our world, information and knowledge are highly sought-after currency," he gave her a crooked smile. "Sometimes we also find information regarding Piko's legitimate business interests, but that is rare. After all, making use of illicit means to learn new things is frowned upon, isn't it?"

Miku wouldn't know. She wasn't a business person, but she nodded anyway. Len dabbed at his mouth with his paper napkin. "That was an interesting discussion," he announced, "but I think it's time we went off to settle our own business. I have a task to start on for Ian, and Gumo probably has to run more petty errands. Miku, I'll escort you back home before I go on my way," he picked up the bill, which the server had placed on the table with their food.

"How much is my share?" Miku asked, glancing at the tab. "And I don't _want_ to go back to my house. It's awfully boring in there," she sighed, trying to grab the bill when Len refused to let her look at it. "Can't you bring me along? I promise I won't get in the way. Or at least let me hang around at the Greybird compound. I'd rather stare at Yuma reading than scroll through more pointless posts on social media," she exhaled. Len frowned uncertainly at her.

"I don't know about that, Miku…you already know the reason why I asked you to stay at home today," he started. But she pouted, widening her eyes as much as possible, and in the end, he relented. "Fine. I can walk you to the compound then, but promise you won't leave without someone accompanying you, okay?" he waited for her to agree before he stood. "I'll pay the bill, so just wait here with Gumo," he declared, dashing away from the table.

Miku was tempted to chase after him so she could pay for her share – she didn't want Len to keep paying for her all the time, not when she was aware that Piko was underpaying him. Granted, his pay was still significantly higher than hers, but she was pretty sure his expenses were greater than hers as well, given how he needed to avoid the authorities and stay under the radar. Even now, she still had no idea where Len was living, though she knew currently he was in a hotel of some sort. "Just let it go, Miku," Gumo spoke up before she could do so – her intentions must have been written all over her face. "Allow yourself to be pampered by someone once in a while. Guys have their pride to maintain, you know?"

"Do you normally pay for Rin then, when you go on dates?" she asked, wondering about their dynamic. Gumo and Rin really were the strangest couple she had ever seen. Gumo made a face. "What's wrong?" she hoped she hadn't touched a nerve with her question.

"Oh, nothing's wrong. Just…well, I can't answer that because Rin and I don't really eat out. Rin hardly leaves her house without a good reason, remember?" oh, now that he mentioned it. It was all coming back to her – Rin, her fear of germs and contamination, the gloves that never seemed to come off her hands. "I don't think she's left her house since your fainting episode. She told me about that one," he added at Miku's look of surprise.

"I was shocked by the truth of Miki's disappearance," she admitted, wincing at the memory. It was the first time the reality of Len's job actually hit her. "Because I thought that she went to visit her relatives – that was what Piko told me, at least. Turns out that he was lying," she sighed. But it was nice to just sit here and recount things to Gumo. It made her realise how much time had passed, the experiences she had gained, the different things she had learnt.

"You poor thing," Gumo sounded sympathetic. "That's what you get when you try to protect someone too much. It's like allergies, you know? Some people say that exposing children to more allergens when they're young helps them build up some tolerance so that they are less likely to get allergic reactions in the future. Who knows if that's really true though," Gumo smiled, grabbing a fry from Len's plate now that Len had gone to settle the bill.

"I don't know if dead people is something I want to build a tolerance to…" Miku muttered. Gumo shrugged, giving her a steady look. His green eyes were searching, and she felt the sudden need to look away. It felt like he was evaluating her somehow, and she had no idea if he liked what he saw. Did he see her as too weak to help Len, the same way Ian did? Or did he think she could be someone valuable to Piko? Gumo's face was impossible to read.

"Okay, I'm back. Let's get going," Len returned to the table, and his reappearance was so sudden that Miku was jolted out of her thoughts. When Miku again tried to ask for the bill, Len just shook his head stubbornly, refusing to let her pay, and she finally gave up on this one. Gumo rose from his chair, brushing some lint off his black coat, and nodded at them.

"I'll get going. Like you said, I _do_ still have some petty errands to run…though this time it's for your sister. I need to help her buy milk since I wasted an entire carton feeding the stray cats in her neighbourhood…" Gumo's voice turned sour. Len's lips twitched, and the look on his face stated "you deserve it" so plainly that no words needed to be said. Gumo glared at the assassin. "There are some occasions where I doubt that you and Rin are related, then there are others where I wonder why I even questioned it. This is definitely one of the latter, Len."

"Oh, just leave," Len huffed, shooing Gumo away. "You're interrupting my time with Miku, and anyway if I know Rin, the more you make her wait, the angrier she's going to get. You don't want to provoke her when she's irritable," he warned. Gumo nodded again, this time in resignation, and gave Miku a friendly farewell wave before hurrying out of the café. She and Len took their time to walk out, and Len made sure to hold her hand in his. The wind outside was chilly, and the warmth of his hand and his body were immensely comforting.

"Are you cold?" Len noticed her shivering. She had tried to hide it, but she wasn't dressed for such weather. When they left her apartment, it had still been bright and sunny, but the skies were darkening, and it looked like it was about to rain. She was sure it was significantly colder now than it was earlier. She nodded, and Len immediately took off his denim jacket, slinging it across her shoulders. She pulled it around herself, her teeth chattering a little as she thanked him. "Ah, no worries. This bit of wind isn't anything to me," he dismissed.

He was wearing nothing but a thin grey shirt underneath his jacket, so she wasn't sure if he was serious about not being bothered by the cold or if it was just some show of bravado – knowing Len, it was more likely the former – but she decided that if he showed even just the tiniest hint of discomfort, she would return the jacket to him. After all, she would be going underground soon, and Len would still have to help Ian out with his task later.

"Why don't you ask Rin to help you out with Ian's missing weapon?" she asked, the thought suddenly coming to mind. Rin was Len's sister and an amazing hacker. If there was anyone who would be able to help decrease Len's burden, it would be his twin sister. Len paused, surprise all over his face. She wondered if she had said something wrong. "Is that a bad idea…?"

"Oh, no. That's a great idea, actually. I didn't think of that myself," he shook his head. "It's just…now that you brought up Rin, it makes me wonder why Piko and Ian didn't just go to her right away. I mean, it _does_ make sense to ask the person who has access to all the surveillance cameras around the city, right?" he considered, tapping a finger against his bottom lip. "If Ian is at the complex later, I'll ask him. There must be a reason why they're asking me and not Rin to search for their missing cargo," he decided. Miku beamed, glad that her suggestion wasn't completely useless, and they went on their way to the complex.

* * *

It was much warmer underground than it was above. Miku returned Len his jacket, grateful for his thoughtfulness, though she kind of missed the jacket already – it smelled distinctly of Len's cologne. He didn't always wear cologne, which she guessed was because he wanted to leave as little evidence as possible at a crime scene, but she loved the smell of it.

She could imagine burying her face in the crook of his neck and just inhaling his warm scent. She blushed at the thought – they had never even kissed, so she really was jumping ahead with her fantasies. But Miku wondered what Len was waiting for. If he tried to kiss her, she wouldn't turn away. Maybe he wanted to spend more time with her first before he made a move? "Doesn't look like there's anyone here today…" Len observed, looking around.

"Perhaps Piko gave everyone a day off?" she shrugged. Len snorted and shook his head, and Miku knew herself that her boss was unlikely to be so magnanimous. "Well, Ian should be here somewhere, right? This is his domain after all. Maybe he's in his office?" she asked.

"Maybe…I hope he is," Len mumbled, turning down the passageway and heading towards the _capo_ 's office. It didn't take long to arrive at the room, and Len reached out, rapping the door smartly with his knuckles. There was no response – but Ian hardly bothered to respond anyway when people tried to talk to him – so they opened the door and took a look inside.

The office was empty. There was no silvery blond _capo_ with dark eyes and a fierce scowl in the room, but Len lingered inside the office anyway, looking around, so Miku remained there as well. She watched as Len picked up the photo frame on the desk. It struck her as odd that Ian would have a photo of himself in his office, of all things. Why not a picture of his family? Or a friend, or a loved one? Or maybe even a photo of Piko, since Ian was so loyal to him?

She moved over to stare at the picture as well. The only other time she had been inside this place was when Len wanted to show her what Ian looked like. After that, she had avoided this office as much as she could, not wanting to encounter the _capo_ unless she really had no choice. She only took a cursory glance at the photo the other time, looking just long enough to note that he had light hair, dark eyes and that he was heartbreakingly handsome. But she stared at the photo longer this time and realised that he actually looked rather young.

Ian mentioned that he was twenty-five years old. In this photo, however, he could not have been any older than eighteen. There was a sunken hollowness in his cheeks that was not present now, and his eyes, already dark, seemed further shadowed by _something_. It was a hauntingly striking image, and she simply couldn't tear her eyes away, mesmerised by the Ian from all those years ago. "He's changed quite a bit, hasn't he?" Len remarked.

She nodded silently, and Len continued. "This photo…I think it was taken before Ian met Piko. That's what I heard, anyway. Ian met Piko when he was a teenager. I don't know what he was up to before that, but from what I do know, Piko completely turned his life around. It's why he's so fiercely loyal to Piko – without Piko, he'd still be…doing whatever it was he was doing before. And it looks like he was stuck in a pretty bad place to me," he remarked.

"Thank you for such a charming observation about my personal life," Ian's voice was dry. Miku jumped, whipping around so quickly that she almost lost her balance. Len caught her before she could stumble. "I didn't know you were interested in authoring my biography. Do you want me to provide more details about my tragic past?" Ian was leaning against the office door, watching them with a sharp-eyed intent that contradicted his casual stance.

"Oh, there's no need. My past is complicated enough, I don't need to add more tragedy to my life," Len shook his head. Whether he was joking or not, Miku couldn't tell – he sounded a little too serious to be just kidding. There was a brilliant smile on his face though, so she couldn't be certain. "We were looking for you. Glad you're around, Ian. Where's Yuma?"

"In one of his own offices," Ian tossed his long braid behind him, gaze drifting to her for a second. He barely acknowledged her before turning back to Len. "Finally, because I was sick of seeing his face around all the time. It was beginning to feel like we were co-sharing this compound," he drawled. He straightened and took a few steps into the office, and now that he was closer, Miku realised that the plaster she put on him last night was still on his cheek.

"How's your injury?" she asked, instinctively approaching the _capo_ and reaching out for the plaster. Ian's arm jerked up so quickly that she almost missed it, and he slapped her hand away from his face. She stared at him in surprise, mildly hurt by his rejection, and he frowned at her, his dark blue eyes narrowed. "I was just wondering…" she muttered when neither one of them said anything for a while. Ian's expression never changed, but his eyes _did_ soften.

Or maybe she was overthinking. Ian was not soft. He was the most violent, temperamental man she knew, and she should have known better than to expect anything but hostility and rejection from him. "It's getting better. Thanks," Ian's voice was clipped, but she was both surprised and relieved to hear this from him, so she nodded and retreated so she was standing safely next to Len. Len gave her a curious look but didn't ask anything about their interaction.

"I just wanted to know, Ian. Why didn't you get Rin to search for the missing cargo instead?" Len instead dove into the question on his mind, attracting both Ian and Miku's attention. "It'd make more sense to ask her instead of me since she has access to more resources than I do."

Ian shook his head. "I asked Piko that as well, but he said no. It's due to the nature of the cargo. Asking Rin to search for it would be a risky move…should she know of its existence, she'd never dare to go anywhere near the thing. It's a bioweapon," he clarified at Len's questioning look. Sudden comprehension dawned on Len's face, and he slowly nodded, his expression becoming grim. Miku took a while to get it, but then finally she understood too.

A bioweapon. She wasn't sure exactly what such things entailed, but she knew that meant it was derived from something that was already present in nature – meaning it was most likely a disease or something, right? She had watched enough movies to figure that out. Diseases were caused by bacteria and viruses. And of course, Rin hated germs. No wonder Piko did not ask her to help. "Why do you guys have a bioweapon?" she blurted out, shocked.

Was Piko's organisation intending to start a war or something? Ian's gaze slid to her, and she could practically see him choosing between answering her question or ignoring her. He decided to do the latter, returning his attention to Len. "Now you know, assassin. Don't let it slip to your sister. We would rather she remains calm while preparing for Paris. And as for _you_ ," Ian glanced at her again. So he hadn't actually intended to ignore her. "Tell anyone besides Len, Piko, Yuma or myself about what you learnt, and I'll tie you up and throw you inside the armoury for a week. Do you understand me?" he threatened. She nodded mutely.

"You don't need to threaten her, Ian. I'm sure Miku would never discuss confidential information with anyone," Len spoke up for her, and she shot him a grateful look. Ian just rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything else. "She knows better than to risk her life, after all," he carried on, and that sentence was frightening, to say the least. Again, she was forced to acknowledge that in her current situation, there were worse repercussions than losing a friend or her job if she accidentally said the wrong thing. "Should I start searching for the cargo now, then? Though there are not many leads at the moment…" his voice trailed off.

"It's up to you," Ian shrugged, but he was staring at her the whole time he answered Len's question. She was tempted to hide behind Len so she could avoid that piercing gaze. "You already mentioned that there are not many leads, but you _do_ have informants, do you not? And like I said earlier, the large crate those men were carrying is probably a clue of some kind. We cannot overlook any possible links to Kiyoteru's cargo," a shadow fell across Ian's face when he said Kiyoteru's name but otherwise, the _capo_ didn't show any sign of emotion.

"Understood," Len nodded. "I'll see if there's anything my informants can tell me about the tattoo. If they have a base of operations here, then it is likely their box was taken there. If there are any updates, I'll let one of you know," Len glanced at her, then grinned, leaning down to peck her on the cheek. "I have to go to work now. I'll see you around soon," he promised, slipping away from her and leaving the office so quickly that it felt like he had magically disappeared. Miku swallowed. Now she was left alone with Ian.

Ian didn't seem entirely pleased about her presence either. "What are you doing here? Piko gave you the day off, didn't he?" he demanded, folding his arms across his chest. "He told us not to expect you here today – yet here you are, as hopeless and oblivious as ever. One day you're going to get yourself killed," he muttered, his tone disparaging. She wanted to sigh.

She had only been left alone with him for five seconds, yet the insults were already coming her way. What had she ever done to deserve Ian's ire? She sometimes suspected that it may be due to her gender since she didn't see him talking down to his _soldato_ the same way. He didn't even talk to _Len_ this way, though that might be due to Len's skills and capabilities. Ian clearly thought Miku was weak and practically useless, which she found rather offensive.

She was capable of doing _some_ things. And she could learn on the way. After all, no one was born knowing how to shoot a gun. "I didn't want to stay cooped up in my house all day," she answered, trying to keep her voice as even as possible. She wouldn't allow herself to fall to Ian's level and start yelling – partially because she believed she could keep her calm better than he could, and also because she was certain raising her voice would set off a shouting match that she would undoubtedly lose. Plus, she didn't want to deal with an irate Ian.

"You didn't want," Ian repeated flatly. She could already sense that this wasn't going to turn out well. "As if the world revolves around what _you_ want. Did you not consider the fact that you being here would distract the assassin from his other priorities?" he shot at her, taking a step closer. She took a similar step away, hoping to maintain some distance between them.

"Well…I promised I wouldn't leave the compound without supervision. And your presence is enough to ensure nothing will go wrong, isn't it?" she retorted, feeling her heartbeat speed up as Ian continued to watch her with those dark blue eyes. She couldn't exactly tell what he was feeling – anyone else might think he sounded angry, but Miku didn't think it was _anger_ exactly. She had heard Ian when he was furious before, and this was something different.

Ian wouldn't even care if she wanted to put herself in harm's way. That much she knew. He always thought of her as weak, so even if she ended up doing something which hurt her, he'd say she had it coming. But his unspoken words were as clear as day – he knew Len would be worried if she was outside her house. Ian himself wanted her to stay in her apartment, which was probably why he was using Len as an excuse to kick up such a fuss. And that was why he was getting snappy about her leaving the safety of her apartment.

Or maybe she was overthinking again. Who knew what really went on in Ian's head? The _capo_ hesitated for the briefest of seconds, then he suddenly exhaled and looked away, his slender fingers tapping irritably against his upper arm. His arms were still folded. "That doesn't mean you can just wander around as you please," he snapped. "Do you think that I have time to worry – I mean, time to care what you're up to? Please spare me the extra work."

She squinted at Ian. She hadn't missed his slip just now. Worry? Did that mean Ian actually _worried_ about her? That was a new development. "Are you actually concerned about me?" she asked slowly, watching him closely for a response. The look Ian gave her made her feel like an insect, just waiting to be stepped on. "Never mind that I asked," she added hastily.

It was so reminiscent of the way he stared at her the first time they met. And again, it was not a pleasant experience to be looked at that way by someone who could probably grace the cover of some high fashion magazine if he chose to do so. Ian's good looks were never something she could just ignore. If she was being objective, she had to admit that Ian was the most handsome person she'd ever seen, even more so than Len or Piko, though they were _very_ close seconds. But Piko and Len didn't have Ian's antagonistic personality, which was a major bonus for them. "I care more about my machetes than I do about you."

Sadly, that was probably true. "You care about your machetes more than anything else," she pointed out. "Except for maybe Piko," she added as an afterthought. Ian shrugged, neither confirming nor denying this, and she was thankful that Ian's strange moodiness appeared to have passed. "Why are you so loyal to him though? I'm just curious. Yuma doesn't seem to be quite as devoted as you are to him," she asked cautiously. Len's story just now had piqued her interest.

"Devoted? I wouldn't describe myself that way. But I'm definitely loyal to our boss," Ian turned, walking out of his office. He did not extend an invitation to her to follow, but she scurried out of the room anyway, eager to listen to what he was saying. "Didn't you already hear the story from the assassin? Why are you still pestering me?" he added, sounding moody again.

"You _know_ what he told me. It wasn't much, and I don't think even Len knows the details!" Miku exclaimed, still following closely behind Ian. She had no idea where the _capo_ was heading, but she wanted to find out more about his background. The more she knew about Ian, the more human and real he became, and the less intimidated she was by him.

"Yeah, and I'd like to keep it that way," Ian suddenly whipped around in the middle of the passageway, a grimace on his face. She halted in her tracks, startled by the unexpected stop. "It's _my_ life, isn't it? I'm not obliged to say anything just because some new girl thought it would be fun to stick her nose in my personal business. Ask me about my past again and I swear I'll make you regret your curiosity," he growled, leaning so close to her that the tips of their noses almost touched. She was staring straight into his blue eyes, and they were so deep…

She fancied she could see stars and galaxies in their depths. Or maybe her fear was making her see things. "All right," she answered meekly, and Ian noticeably relaxed, withdrawing from her. "You know, you could try being less angry all the time. Maybe you'd manage to get yourself a girlfriend if you do…" the words spilt out of her mouth before she could stop herself, and she swallowed, abruptly pressing her lips together. Why was she such an idiot?

Ian's expression looked almost like disgust. "Why would I want a girlfriend? It's nothing but a restriction, and women are liabilities," he gave her a pointed look, which she tried her best to ignore. "There isn't anything a woman can do for me that I can't already do by myself."

"How about romance? Cuddling, kissing, dates and stuff – you can't do any of that on your own," she argued. "Unless you swing the other way…" that thought came to mind, and she gasped, suddenly convinced that Ian must be gay. That would explain so many things!

Ian's expression, if possible, became even more disgusted. "I'm not gay. Whatever you're thinking, please stop right now," he deadpanned. She frowned. She thought Ian might be attracted to Piko, which would explain his steadfast loyalty and devotion to him, but since Ian insisted that he wasn't gay… "And no, I don't need any of that either. When you grow up on the streets alone, you learn that there's very little room in this world for affection."

She blinked. Ian appeared to have unwittingly let slip something about his past. "You grew up on the streets?" she repeated, peering closely at him. Ian shut his mouth, as though he realised he had said something he didn't mean to say. "Is that why you were so reluctant to let me treat your wound last night?" she guessed, her mind quickly connecting all the dots. Ian's words made it sound like he never received a lot of care or attention when he was young, which could be a result of growing up without a roof over his head. And if that was the case…no wonder he was so wary when she insisted on treating his injury.

He remained silent for a while. Finally, he exhaled. "Draw whatever conclusions you want. If you want a truthful answer, I just thought it was a waste of time," he answered shortly, and it didn't seem like he wanted to say anything else. He began turning away, but impulsively, Miku lunged forward and threw her arms around him, hoping that she wouldn't be pushed away. She could hear the bitterness in his voice, and she knew her words had struck a chord.

Ian's body was stiff. She could feel the tension in his limbs, and he did not reciprocate her hug, instead just standing there, so still that she could pretend he was a statue. She could barely feel the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Hatsune Miku?" he finally asked, and his voice was barely more than a whisper. It was the first time she remembered him saying her name rather than just her family name.

"Everyone needs a hug once in a while," she mumbled, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. Her arms were wrapped around his torso, and she could feel his heartbeat against her ear. "I don't know how many times you've been shown affection before. And I don't know why you dislike women so much. If some girl screwed you over in the past, then I'm sorry. But not every girl is like that. And no one can just live their whole life without a friend or a companion. No one can be so alone all the time. Won't you feel lonely?"

"Don't make assumptions about my past," he breathed. But his voice wavered slightly, and she hoped that maybe her words were getting through to him. He was warm, and his scent was very distinctly Ian – she was reminded of fresh mint and the scent of the forest after a cool spring rain. "There was no girl, not in the past and not now. You don't know anything about me, so don't act like you do. And loneliness is for fools who convince themselves that they need friendship to survive," but despite those harsh words, he didn't push her away.

Instead, she felt his arms _very_ hesitantly reach up around her, and for a few fragile seconds, Ian hugged her back. She almost couldn't believe it was happening. Then abruptly, he pulled back, stepping away from her. His face was neutral now, showing no hint of emotion whatsoever. "That didn't happen," he told her, voice firm and unyielding. "None of that happened. And you didn't hear a _single_ thing about me or my past. Do you understand?"

She nodded mutely. He didn't need to verbalise a threat for her to know one was present. If she said anything to anyone, he'd make her suffer. He relaxed a little. "Good. Now go find something to do in the compound and stop bothering me. If I see you again within the next two hours, I'll use you as target practice," he warned her. Then he turned and walked away, leaving her dumbfounded. He was still pretty hostile, for a man who had accepted her hug!

But she _had_ discovered more to Ian and possibly seen a side of him no one else had ever seen before. She wasn't _quite_ as afraid of him now as she was in the beginning, but she was still very cautious. She wasn't sure what he was thinking and she didn't know if their dynamic had changed at all, but at least she knew he was human now, and he had his own demons. Clearly, he wasn't just joking around when he mentioned his tragic backstory to Len.

Perhaps he wasn't really as bad as he seemed to be. She would hold off judgement about that for now since he was still so unwilling to talk about himself, but clearly, he wasn't as uncaring of affection as he made himself out to be. Maybe if she tried to find out more about him as carefully as she could, she would finally be able to piece together the puzzle that was Ian.

Ian. She didn't even know his family name. There would be a long and difficult road ahead if she wanted to discover what made Ian tick, but since she had to remain in the presence of the irritable _capo_ anyway…she might as well try her best and make good use of her time.


End file.
